Tagging Hearts
by HiHi-Ai
Summary: Sakura is a clean cut girl just dying for a better life; so Sasori gives it to her. His art brings her to a new world full of adventure, emotions and excitement. The deeper she gets, the crazier things seem; but Sasori won't let her wilt away on his watch. He opens her eyes, while she opens her heart. A look into the world of Graffiti and Love.
1. Tagging

I really, really like Graffiti and street art.

I love how rebellious it is, and the message graffiti can send. Graffiti is a powerful form of expression; the fact that it's illegal just shows the passion. It's like, you can't hold back. I love it. Plus, there are some really talented people out there.

I love graffiti, I love street art. It's all free expression and representation; people have something to say, something clever to show, when they do these illegal activities.

I myself would love to scale walls and spray paint my work on them, but I live in New Mexico and there is absolutely no where good enough to do it on. Someday, I'll move to a big city and paint everywhere! EVERYWHERE!

* * *

Her life is a dead end.

She has no way of controlling which way her life is going. Being controlled is no way to live; every day is the same old thing, over and over. She works so hard, trying to adapt to the life she's given and fit into this role she has to play but there's something missing. Something, something she can not reach; something she isn't _allowed_ to reach.

This life is crap! All crap! Its crap and it's not enough, nothing is enough. Something is _missing_! But no one understands that!

So, what does she do?

She pulls a Rose from Titanic and runs away.

Where is she going? Who knows? This city is so big and she hasn't seen any of it, so she'll run. She'll run because there is no dead end on these streets – none. There's no one waiting to push her into something or force her this way and that way. She can turn left she can turn right; she can go anywhere. This city is infamous; gang warfare, muggers, murder and thieves – but she does not care. She doesn't care because anything would be better than living how she was.

Sakura runs. She runs and runs. She runs away from this life that isn't hers, from these people who force their love and from this pain. The pain doesn't go away though, so she runs harder.

She runs. She runs. She runs.

"Watch it!" Someone screams just before Sakura crashes straight into them.

They fall onto the cold concrete. The air is freezing and Sakura slams onto the cold ground, her hands scraping on the hard floor. She looks around and the first thing she sees is the stars.

They're on a wall. S-Stars…on a wall?

"Are you ok?" Someone asks.

Sakura doesn't really hear them. All she sees is the night sky on this wall, in paint.

Spray paint.

"W-What is this?" She asks aloud.

"It's graffiti."

Sakura looks up and sees a boy with red hair. His eyes are so calm that she relaxes almost instantly. This guy, he's…he's…

"Hot." Sakura stares.

The red head gives her a weird look before reaching down to help her up, pulling her to stand by the arm. Sakura stumbles to stand, blushing and looking at this amazingly handsome boy with her heart pounding in her chest. He takes a step back, looking her over. "Are you ok?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine."

"What about me?!"

Another boy is lying on the ground, obviously the guy Sakura crashed into. He gets up, brushing out his long hair and dusting his legs. Then he looks at Sakura with a frown. "What's the deal?! You could've ruined my art!"

"A-Art?" Sakura blinks.

"Un!" The blond boy pushes past her and goes to the wall that's covered in the night sky, bending down to grab a can of spray paint that had fallen in his collide with Sakura. He then puts a cloth over his nose and mouth, lifts the paint can to the wall and starts to spray paint.

Sakura watches him, completely thrown off guard. She's never seen someone do something like this – something so adventurous, so rebellious, so _illegal;_ so amazing. The painting looks just like the sky, just like the stars that twinkle and shine at the earth every night. The image, it's so perfect – it's like a picture. Sakura can't help but stare at the beauty that's unfolding in front of her.

"Sorry, he gets really crazy about his art." The red head is standing next to her. He looks at her with those smoldering eyes. "I'm Sasori."

"I'm S-Sakura." And you are the most gorgeous man in the world. Sasori has to be the cutest, most picture perfect boy she's ever seen. His hair, oh! His eyes, God!

"That's Deidara." Sasori says, gesturing to the blond boy spray painting the wall.

The only thing that's more captivating than this good looking boy is the art.

It's like nothing Sakura has ever seen. The skill, the talent, is so obvious and so amazing. The building itself is a tall plain office max with nothing but brick walls and glass windows reaching up to the sky, no trees around and no color at all; except for Deidara's painting. The painting stands out so much, it's so beautiful. She can't look away.

As Deidara finishes the night sky, he paints tiny bright birds flying across the stars, flying over the wall in a perfect pattern.

The birds are so delicate and beautiful. At first you would think the sky itself was the main thing to look at, what with how wide and perfectly painted it is, but now it's clear the birds are the subject of this work of art. The birds look real enough to fly off the painting and through the real sky up above, the wings look soft enough to touch.

"Done!" Deidara grins, stepping back to look as his masterpiece. "What do you think Danna?"

"It looks fine." Sasori muses.

"You're too hard to impress." Deidara snaps, shooting a small glare. Then he looks at Sakura. "What do you think?"

Sakura is taken aback at first, but her green eyes look back at the once plain wall with a world of appreciation. There's a gleam in her eyes that twinkles as she looks upon this beautiful representation, and emotions are beating in her chest that push away the sadness which was there only seconds before. Never has she had such a reaction to a work of art before.

"It's…perfect." She whispers.

Sasori stares at her.

Deidara claps for joy. "See! My art is the best; no one can resist the beauty of my work!"

"What are you doing here?" Sasori asks, ignoring his friend.

Sakura looks at him, fumbling for words. "I'm...I don't know anymore."

"HEY YOU KIDS! GET OVER HERE!"

They all look over to see two police officers running towards them from the other end of the alley. They look pissed off for some reason but why would they-

Sakura gasps. "This is illegal!" She points at Deidara's painting.

"Uh, yeah!" Deidara is grabbing his spray cans and shoving them in his jacket pockets. "Let's get out of here!"

Sakura panics, she has no idea where to go or what to do. The cops are getting closer and closer, they're going to grab her! They're going to take her to jail for being an accomplice or something! Oh god, what will her mom say when she finds out about-

"Come with me." Sasori grabs her hand.

Sakura looks at him, wide eyed. "O-Ok."

More running.

Sasori's very fast, which helps. He's practically pulling Sakura, she's in such a daze she doesn't question which way they're going. She doesn't dare look back to see if the cops are getting closer, she can hear them calling out and chasing after them. The city is just one giant maze, but Sasori seems to know where to go because they don't run into one dead end.

Sasori stops at a tall building, running up the stairs going along side it. He helps her climb up to the roof and then they're alone. The cops either didn't see them come up here or they got lost in the chase. They're safe.

"Are you ok?" Sasori asks, looking completely fine after running a mile and a half, climbing seven flights of stairs and two walls.

"Fine." Sakura pants, completely out of breath.

Sasori lets go of her hand, walking to the side of the roof and looking down at the streets below. Sakura watches him as she regains her breath, and it all feels like a dream. She woke up this morning as a perfect girl, brilliant and innocent, but just now she'd just escaped a police chase with a guy who takes part in the illegal activities or graffiti.

"Um, where are we?" Sakura asks him.

Sasori looks at her. "…You don't know anything about this city do you?"

She blushes.

There's a pause, then Sasori gives a long sigh. "Where do you live?"

* * *

Sooooo Sakura's never been on a subway.

It's not because she's too rich to ever be seen on one, it's because they seriously freak her out. The germs, the horror stores, the muggings; who would _want_ to ride a subway?

So yeah, she's avoided them her whole life. They're dirty and old and she has issues with being underground, going through long tunnels that could possibly collapse any moment. Not to mention she has an irrational fear of trains and roller coasters.

So yes, she's freaking out right now.

But no, she won't embarrass herself in front of Sasori by refusing to get on the subway when he's offering to take her all the way back home and offering to pay for her ticket.

"Are you ok?" Sasori raises an eyebrow.

"Fine! I'm great! Everything's fine!" Sakura is hyperventilating.

Sasori stares. "You've never been on a subway, have you?"

"Of course I have!" She looks scandalized. "I've lived here for years!"

The train doors slide open and Sakura jumps back, giving a little shriek. Sasori gives a little smirk. He steps in and looks at her expectantly. After looking at the sliding doors suspiciously, because those bastards could close on her any second, Sakura takes a giant step over the doorway and takes four steps away from the doors, just daring them to shut on her.

"You're weird." Sasori smirks.

Sakura blushes.

The train starts to fill with people, Sakura steps closer to Sasori in the back. She tries not to touch anyone while retaining her posture, all the while Sasori chuckles at her strange behavior; rich people are funny.

Sasori looks around before pulling a fat marker out from his jacket pocket. He goes over to the back wall, which is covered in strange writing, and starts to write on it.

Sakura stares. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Tagging." (1)

"Tagging?"

"Yes, tagging."

Sakura watches as he writes 'Puppet Master' in weird, reasonably impressive, letters. Then she looks at the whole wall, seeing how there are so many different words in equally flashy lettering. Sakura blinks, confused.

"What is all this?" She asks.

"It's graffiti." Sasori answers, finishing.

"…You graffiti a lot huh?"

"It's art. I like it." There's definitely more to it than that, but Sasori doesn't look about to spill his whole life story so Sakura doesn't push it.

All these names put on one surface; there's a sense of unity. Sakura looks at all of them, the skill put into the lettering and the confidence – she's instantly jealous. Jealous of all these people who have something she doesn't, who have a unified strength and sense of purpose. These people, they probably don't know each other. Complete strangers who come together to show what they've got.

Sakura wishes she could be apart of this…this…this thing? This something. This something that she does not have.

Sasori watches her.

He holds up his marker. "Wanna try it?"

Her eyes widen at him.

This is illegal! This is vandalism! Never in her life has she ever done anything wrong, anything so completely rebellious!

She grabs the marker.

She looks as the train wall.

"…What do I write?"

"Your name." Sasori answers simply, though there's no simplicity at all. "What you like to be called."

Sakura looks back at the wall.

She stares…and stares…and stares…and-

"Do you need help?" He asks, looking at her.

"Maybe." She blushes, who can't write their own name?!

Sasori opens the marker and puts it in her hand, then he puts his hand on the wall. "Write here, it's pretty clean. Why don't you just try writing your name this time?"

Marker in hand, she leans close and writes her name in the elegant script her family trained her to write everything in. So her tag looks completely different from the rest of them, because all the others are heavy or flashy or hardcore or in strange letters that are hard to read. Hers is very dainty and feminine; it sticks out.

"Like that?" She looks at him.

Sasori looks at her name, running a thumb over the marker. "It's…you have a nice name."

He looks at her and for a moment their eyes meet and there's a certain understanding between them. She can see the experience and long life he has, and he can see the innocence in hers. She's so young and somehow, someway, he can see her life is very lacking. He can see the unhappiness in her eyes, the life that has not been lived.

Sasori looks at her and feels sorry, but he is also very interested in her.

He's interested in her because, for a moment, her eyes did not look sad or lost.

That moment was when she was looking at Sasori's tag.

When she was looking at Deidara's street art.

When she looks at art.

Sakura looks at their street art and her eyes gleam, and he can see life in her. There are few people who have this kind of appreciation for art, and Sasori hasn't met one of those people until now. So, yes, she's just some random girl who happened to be in the right place and the right time – but Sasori likes the way she looks at art.

Sakura blushes, because they've been staring at each other for a while. "Uh, here."

He takes his marker back from her.

"Thanks." Sasori watches her closely, his fingers brushing hers. "…You know, you're very-"

The train stops abruptly.

"WAH!" Sakura tumbles forward, slamming straight into Sasori and knocking heads with him.

"GAH!" Sasori rubs his forehead.

Sakura bounces off his forehead and falls backwards as the train rivets to a complete stop.

She falls slam on her back on the floor.

And she's in a skirt.

Sasori's whole face glows the reddest red ever, even redder than his hair, because Sakura's skirt falls back as she hits the floor and she practically moons him.

Sakura looks up at him and realizes what has just happened.

And then everyone else on the train looks at her and all Sakura can do is…

Scream.

"AHHHHHH!" She shrieks.

Sasori looks at her, because what teenage boy with hormones wouldn't stare, but he realizes that there are other people looking at her. Sasori shakes himself out of it and reaches down, grabbing her arms and lifting Sakura straight up. Sakura stops screaming, pushes her skirt straight down and hides her face in Sasori's chest.

"Oh. My. GOD." She mumbles, freaking out.

"It's not that bad." Sasori says, embarrassed for her.

He carefully walks her out of the subway, and no one really makes a big deal about it. Stranger things have happened in their city and stranger things will happen again. Sasori tries not to think about how he just saw Sakura's underwear out of respect.

They were pink. With roses.

Sasori looks away, the blush returning to his face.

They take a few more streets and soon Sasori finds that it's his turn to be out of place.

Sakura lives on the upper east side of the city, the richer side. The neighborhood is so quiet and peaceful, he actually questions if they're in the same city or not. The houses are all two stories, the front yards have flowers and the streets are clean as a whistle. There's no dirt or graffiti or paint anywhere, everything has a place and there is a place for everything.

Except Sasori.

He feels completely out of place and can't wait to get back to the real world.

Sakura walks next to him, finding that she knows her way now.

Though, this doesn't stop her from breaking her heel.

"Seriously? Why me?" She groans, lifting her foot and looking at the two inch heel handing off. "This is the worst day _ever_!"

Sasori looks at her with pity, because she really has had a crap day and he can tell. Sakura takes off both her shoes as she's forced to go barefoot for the rest of the walk.

"It's not so bad. I'm sure worse things have happened." Sasori says.

"You have no idea." Her temper is getting the best of her now.

"Why're you so upset anyway?" Sasori stops, looking at her calmly. He has this sense of calm that Sakura envies. "I can hardly believe you ran so far from home…"

It really is pretty unfair that he's helping her and she hasn't told him anything. They're strangers and Sasori obviously has better things to do, but he helped her anyway.

"I just…I'm a complete mess and no one can see it." Sakura sighs, looking up at her house. Her house looks so clean and perfect, she hates it. She hates living in this world where she has to be just what is expected of her, where she has no control and no life. She's walking a thin line and there's no way to get off.

It's a dead end she's walking straight into.

Sasori, she can tell, sees she's in trouble.

"…Come here."

Sakura pauses before stepping closer.

"Give me your arm."

Ok, red flag. He may be a nice helpful stranger but she still knows nothing about him. Sasori eventually just takes her arm in his hand and holds it palm up. He pulls the marker out of his jacket pocket again and writes on her wrist gently.

Puppet Master.

He lets go and she looks at his tag on her wrist, written in small letters.

Oh god, her heart is beating so hard she's scared he can hear it.

"There, now you won't be a mess." His thumb brushes over the letters gently, softly touching each one and giving her skin pleasant warmth. Sakura's heart tightens. "Not with me pulling the strings."

That is both the strangest and most comforting thing Sakura's ever heard.

Sasori holds her wrist for a moment longer, then he lets go.

"I'll see you around." And then he smiles at her.

It's a small smile, but it's the first smile he's given her and for the first time in a long time she actually smiles too. She smiles at him.

"Good night." She waves as he walks back down the street, this man who just appeared into her life and somehow made her smile.

Sakura stands outside, watching him leave until he disappears into the darkness. Then she takes a breath and goes inside.

* * *

She puts on the pink skirt, pushes back her hair from her face, gets on some responsible shoes and grabs her books.

Sakura goes to school, the school her parents picked out, and feels like she's been put back in her place. Last night is just a memory, she's back to living the life she has no control over. Her classes are too hard and she hates all of them, but her family wouldn't care. She has to do what is expected of her; she doesn't even question it anymore, it's pointless. Nothing she can ever say will get her out of this world that's forced upon her.

"What happened to you last night?" Ino, best friend number one, asks. "I called, like, three times."

"I t-tried to call as well." Hinata, best friend number two, asks.

They both looks just as prissy and perfect as Sakura, but both of them are oblivious to the screams in her heart that are just waiting to burst out.

"I met a guy." Sakura answers, blushing.

"What?!" Ino grins madly, jumping up and down in excitement. "Who?! Where?! Oh my god!"

"I'm so happy for you!" Hinata beams.

They walk around the corner, reaching the courtyard of the school.

"He's amazing; I just bumped in on him and he was just wonderful. He helped me get back home when I was lost."

"How sweet." Hinata smiles.

"How mysterious." Ino gushes.

"He has these soft eyes, they're so calming. And his smile…" Her cheeks color.

"How cute." Ino giggles.

"How romantic." Hinata sighs.

"Who is he?" They both ask.

"He's-"

They walk through the courtyard to the first staircase up to the classrooms, and at the top step is-

"Sasori!" Sakura's eyes widen.

Sure enough, it's him. That red hair is so striking, it couldn't be anyone else. Sasori turns around, sees her and his eyes widen. They go to the same school? The school is very big, and Sakura has never paid mind to any of the other students she didn't already know. It's such a small world!

Sakura rushes up the stairs, two at a time, and when she gets to the top she can't help but hug him. She thought she would never see him again, that he was just this man who jumped into her life just to jump out, but here he is. He's been here all along.

"I can't believe it's you!" Sakura's smile is so wide.

"We go to the same school?" Sasori smirks. "Of course we do."

He glances at her wrist, his tag is still there. "You…didn't wash it off…"

"Oh. N-No, I guess I didn't." Her cheeks deepen in color, she brushes a thumb over the letters that burn on her skin.

They look at each other and despite just meeting, there's a comfort between them. An understanding. Sasori wants to reach out and help her, to protect this girl who appreciates the world he's given her a taste of and to show her more of it. Sakura wants to give into him, to let him take her away like he did last night. For a few hours, with Sasori, her world was calm. He makes her calm.

"Sasori…I…"

"Sakura we should-"

"Get to class." Ino jumps between them.

They both look at her like she's an alien.

"Come on, we're going to be late!" Ino says, a giant ass fake smile on her face. "Gotta hurry now!"

"S-Sakura…" Hinata tugs on her arm gently, looking very concerned.

Before she can eve say anything at all, give any resistance, they take control and pull her away. Sakura looks back at Sasori and gives a very apologetic look, to which he gives a dampened look of his own and then she's gone. No control at all…

"How do you know him?" Ino frowns, holding her right arm. "That criminal!"

"Criminal?" Sakura blinks, shocked.

"He does that ridiculous, illegal art work all over the place." Ino says, disgusted. "Just looking for trouble."

"Sakura, you shouldn't go near people like him." Hinata says frantically. "It's dangerous! He could hurt you!"

"W-What? He wouldn't hurt-"

"Thank god we were there to save you." Ino says. "God knows what he would've done."

"I'm so glad nothing bad happened." Hinata sighs.

Sakura stays quiet as her friends banter on about how they 'saved' her. Her heart weakens, her mind knows what they're saying is wrong, but her voice will not rebuttal. She's been silenced yet again.

All she wants to do is scream.

"Don't go near him again Sakura." Ino says.

"He's nothing but trouble." Hinata says.

Actually, all she wants to do is go back to Sasori's arms.

(End)

Longest…chapter…I've ever written. I'm trying to make this story longer than the others.

What did you think?! I'm so nervous!

I hope you liked it! I'm so sorry if you didn't! I'm super nervous about all this. I really think something is missing from this story, but I hope it evolves into a story I can really be proud of.

Please, please review. It would mean a lot to me.

1. _Tagging_ – Most graffit/street artists have a 'Tag' which is just a nick name they use to identify themselves when doing their work. You can use words or numbers or symbols. Tagging is just putting your Tag on walls in any form or lettering/material. It can be considered graffiti, but it's not street art.


	2. Spray Can

Alright, for those of you who don't know me, here's a short intro.

I'm Jessica. I've been writing on this site for years and years. I've deleted a lot of stories, written even more stories and done a lot of work. My dream is to be a writer for a living.

I love cats. I love, love video games (mostly the shooting games) and I love babies. I hate children. I get angry easily. I love clever humor, hate perverted humor. I love theater and art, and I'm big on equal rights and acceptance for all people.

I would love to write a great sci-fi story, but my talent is in romance so I'll just stick with that for now.

I'm Mexican, bisexual and probably the most open minded person you'll ever meet. I hope we can be friends.

* * *

"Danna, you can't get a girl like that." Deidara says, munching on a sweet muffin. "They're too prissy anyway."

"She's not prissy." Sasori glares at him. Deidara gives him a questioning look, to which Sasori turns away and looks out the classroom window. "She's…nice."

Sakura is nice.

He may not spend a lot of time with women, or people in general, but Sasori can tell a good person from a bad one. Being a quiet person makes you very observant; the way she looked at art, the appreciation and reaction she had…it's hard to find people like that. He doesn't want to let her go yet, not without knowing more about her. There's more to Sakura than just some rich, prissy know it all girl with time to waste and money to spend. When she ran into his life last night he could tell she was looking for something.

"I just want to get to know her." He mumbles.

"Woah, you? Get to know someone?" Deidara mocks. "The sky is about to fall. Hell froze over. The earth is square."

"Hardy har." Sasori shoots him a sour look. "You're no help."

"Aw come on, you never want to know anyone! Blame me for being surprised."

"I blame you for being a smart ass."

"No profanity in my classroom!" The teacher snaps, throwing a piece of chalk that bounces off Sasori's head. "Pay attention!"

They look at the board for a while but Sasori's mind if elsewhere. The way Sakura's friends looked at him…he knew she was from a different world, but he didn't know he was a monster. Those two girls were so freaked out by him…Sakura didn't look at him that way when they met…

"Danna, I can help you get with her if you want." Deidara whispers to him. "I'm the king of romance."

"Oh, are you?" Sasori raises a brow.

"I am." Deidara sighs, leaning back in his seat. "I've practically got my own harem."

"And why would a romance god like you help me?"

"I pity you." Deidara smirks.

Sasori punches him in the arm.

"No violence in my class room!" The teacher shucks the board eraser straight at Sasori's face. It slaps him, leaves a thick chalk mark and falls onto his desk. "PAY ATTENTION!"

"Hoe." Sasori whispers to himself.

Deidara laughs and pats Sasori's shoulder. "Don't worry Danna, leave everything to me."

* * *

Sakura passes some giggling girls on the way into the girl's restroom, envious of how happy they are.

When she looks in the mirror above the sink, someone she doesn't know stares back at her. This person doesn't look happy at all. The pink haired girl in the mirror is wearing the school's gym uniform, because its gym class, with perfect hair pulled back and a clear face. She's wearing the earrings her parents got her for her birthday and she doesn't have any financial worries or social anxieties or any needs. Everything is provided for her, her whole life.

Sakura does not want to be this girl.

She wants…something…She doesn't know what, though.

For a moment, she thought she knew what that something was.

When she was with Sasori.

"Psst. Sakura. Psssst."

Sakura looks up. Speak of the devil.

There's Sasori, he's pushed open one of the small windows at the top of the girl's restroom. Sakura nearly screams when she sees him, she's so shocked.

"What _are_ you doing?!" She blinks.

"I need to talk to you." He says. "Is anyone else in here?"

Sakura looks at all the empty stalls. "Uh, no."

"Good."

Now he's climbing into the girl's rest room!

He shimmies a little, catches onto the air vent and pulls himself straight in. One foot lands on one of the sinks, he grabs onto one of the stall doors and drops down to the floor, almost falling over. Did he really just climb into the girl's restroom?!

"Are you ok?!" She asks.

Sasori dusts himself off, looking as cool as ever. "Oh yeah, I've gotten through smaller places before."

Sakura gapes for a moment. He just climbed into the girl's restroom. "Sasori, what are you doing here?"

"I seriously need to talk to you."

"You're going to get in trouble!"

"Nah, Deidara's outside making sure no one gets in." Sasori smirks.

* * *

"Move it! I need the restroom!" Ino snaps.

"I said no one shall pass!" Deidara holds his arms out, blocking the shorter girl.

"I said move! I need to go to the bathroom before volleyball." Ino frowns.

"Ah, I love a girl in uniform." Deidara gives a little tug to the edge of her short shorts.

Hinata stands by, fumbling for what to do while Ino practically beats Deidara down trying to get by. Deidara stands his ground though, refusing to budge. Ino growls and grabs his shirt collar, yanking him forward. "You wanna die, jerk face?"

"God, talk dirty to me. It's super hot." He grins at her.

"You're disgusting!" Ino pushes him away from her.

"Aw, you know you love it. I can give you a kiss if you want," Deidara chuckles. "But I hope you can keep up – I got a lot of tongues."

Deidara holds up both his hands, a perfectly drawn mouth on each palm. He sticks out his real tongue, putting them all in front of Ino's face.

"Pucker up, babe."

Ino and Hinata stare.

Then they scream. "GROSS! YOU FREAK!"

They run fast as hell back to the gym, never looking back.

Deidara closes his mouth, looking at his palms in amusement. "Works every time."

* * *

Sakura shyly pushes hair behind her ear, feeling very vulnerable in her short shorts and high socks. Sasori tries to look straight at her face, out of respect, but god she looks super cute in that gym uniform and it's taking all he has not to look at those perfectly made hips.

"What do you wanna talk to me about?"

Right. Sasori steps closer, catching her eyes with his. "Can we hang out later?"

"Later?" Hanging out at school wouldn't be a good idea, her friends would throw a fit and that would be super embarrassing, she's already embarrassed enough with how they treated him this morning.

"Like, tonight. I can pick you up at ten."

Ten on a school night? Sad to say, she actually has a bed time even though she's seventeen. Not to mention going out that late with an almost-stranger is the most questionable thing in the world; not really the smartest thing for a teenage girl with no means of defending herself to do with a boy who takes part in illegal activities.

Sasori can see the doubt in her eyes, but he just really wants to show her his world. He wants to see the look in her beautiful green orbs when she sees his artwork.

"I really want to get to know you…I like the way you looked at Deidara's art last night…I want you to look at my work that way."

If she wasn't blushing before, she's blushing now.

Despite better judgment, Sakura has to say yes.

"I guess I can go out tonight."

Sasori almost smiles at this, but then…

The door is practically busted down.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE GIRL'S BATHROOM?!"

The gym teacher, Tsunade, has kicked the door open. Deidara is in her right arm, she drags him in and looks like hell on fire. "You are in big trouble, brat!"

Sakura jumps back just as Tsunade reaches out and grabs Sasori at the back of his shirt, pulling him off the ground just like Deidara.

"H-Hey Danna…" Deidara groans.

"You showed her the tongues didn't you?" Sasori asks.

"…Maybe…"

Sasori sighs.

"You two are _mine_. My office, NOW!" Tsunade marches back out the bathroom.

Sakura finds herself alone again.

She looks back in the mirror; the girl from before is gone. Someone different stares back at her for a moment, someone who looks almost like Sakura.

Almost.

Heading back out to the gym, all the other students are playing volleyball. Ino and Hinata are at the far end of the room, at the last net. Sakura goes over to them, stepping back into the normal world that she doesn't want to be in.

"There you are! We're getting killed without you!" Ino says, passing her the volleyball.

Sakura steps back and serves, hitting it over the net to the other team. They go back and forth for a while but eventually the ball goes over to Hinata who can't, for the life of her, hit the ball since she's super un-sporty.

She puts her hands up to hit the ball.

The ball smacks her straight in the face.

"Hinata!" Sakura gasps.

The poor shy girl flops back down on her butt, the treacherous volleyball tumbles off after it's latest kill.

"Come on, we'll sit out a few." Ino grabs one arm and Sakura gets the other, they lift their friend off the ground and over to the benches. When they sit, Ino looks at Hinata's face. "God, you're super red."

"That's going to bruise." Sakura rubs Hinata's arm. "Are you ok?"

"Y-Yes. I'm sorry I ruined the game." Hinata blushes in embarrassment, making her volleyball-imprint get even darker.

"Oh it's fine. This game sucks anyway." Ino sits back. Her blue eyes turn to Sakura now. "Nee Sakura, why don't we have a sleep over tonight? My parents are going out."

"I'm free." Hinata smiles, rubbing her sore cheek.

They both look at Sakura expectantly. Sakura stares back, fumbling for what to say. "I- I can't."

"Why not?" Ino frowns.

Ok, time to choose: tell the truth or lie. Sakura's never been a good liar and both of them have known her long enough to see right through everything she says. Telling the truth would send them both flying off the handle though and Sakura is dirt tired of letting them control her. She loves them both to death but, between Ino's nagging and Hinata's guilt trips, Sakura can never do anything exciting.

Lie, tell the truth, lie, tell the truth…

Running away might be a good choice…

"Hinata are you ok?!"

They all look up. Ah! A savior has come! The ultimate wild card!

Naruto looks really concerned, his blue eyes looking over Hinata's red face that's just getting darker and darker by the second. The poor girl looks so embarrassed she might burst.

"What happened?" He asks, bouncing a volleyball up and down.

"I uh hit…and the ball…u-um…I just…" Hinata flutters, steam practically coming out of her ears. You can practically see the wheels turning in her head.

Of course, Naruto can't see them at all.

"She got hit in the face with the ball." Ino says, smirking. "Isn't that adorable of her?"

Naurto gives a good natured laugh. "Totally! Something like that would happen to Hinata! Don't worry, you look cute as always even with the red mark."

Sakura watches this back and forth of embarrassment and flirtation before slowly making her escape. She plans to avoid her two best friends for the rest of the day, because lying to them just wouldn't be right and telling the truth would be just as bad. Sakura grabs her gym bag and hits the showers.

"Sakura!"

"AH!" She screams, jumping out of her skin.

Deidara grins. He's standing right outside the girl's bathroom and scares the crap out of her when she gets back from dressing. Deidara looks tickled pink from scaring her, but Sakura doesn't look the least bit happy about it.

"Did I scare you? How cute." He chuckles.

"What do you want?" Sakura frowns at him.

"Aw, don't be mad at my fun." Deidara pushes off the wall. He circles her for a moment, looking over this girl whose captured his best friend's heart. Nice ass. "I bring word from your man."

"S-Sasori?" She's caught off by his playfulness. "Why doesn't he just tell me himself?"

"He's still getting a whipping from the scary granma lady, un." He laughs. "Danna got in more trouble than me cause he actually went in the girl's bathroom."

"Oh, well what is it?" Sakura asks.

"Danna said you're gonna come with us tonight."

"I am." She replies shyly.

Deidara finds her absolutely adorable, like a little puppy. "Danna wanted me to remind you to wear black. Oh, and bring a scarf."

"W-What, why?"

"Cute face. Annoying questions." Deidara pats her on the head and walks away.

As he leaves, Sakura thinks of all the clothes she has that are black. She can count the number of cute black clothes she has on two fingers. Not a good time to be a preppy dresser, but she'll just have to deal.

* * *

Perhaps her life wouldn't suck so much if her parents weren't completely terrible.

"Sakura sit straighter." Mother says.

She does.

"Darling, that is the wrong spoon." Father says.

She puts it down.

They continue to eat. Sakura sits so straight her back is hurting and she doesn't dare touch that spoon for the rest of the meal.

Both Mother and Father are doctors, heads of their departments and they watch Sakura like a hawk. Of course, Sakura is expected to be perfect and they won't stop picking at her until she is. They nag and nag and nag until there's nothing left to pick at. Her whole life is like a test that they're grading, but she's obvious failing. Mother's nose is permanently stuck up and Father's ego will not allow anything but the best.

"Dear, you must eat more salad." Mother says, pressing a napkin to her lips.

"Greens are good for you Princess." Father agrees, sipping his wine.

She makes sure to eat her whole salad before eating anything else. There's silence for a long time, only the sound of silverware clicking and chewing. Her parents look so relaxed, their movements are so smooth and soft – they were born for this clean cut life. Sakura, on the other hand, is so fidgety and twitchy – she's dying to get away from this table.

"Precious, I've been wondering, what do you think of the Uchiha family?" Mother asks, her eyes sparkling.

"The Uchiha? They're fine." Where is this going…

"You haven't spoken to Sasuke in a long time," Mother says, "Perhaps you two should get together soon? I can arrange a dinner at Marci's Café if you wish."

Oh god no, it's the man hunt again.

Every blue moon, Mother makes it her duty to find Sakura the perfect boyfriend. In her mind, Sakura is an angel – perfect grades, beautiful and talented. Sakura is also kind, a quality not most rich have and a quality Mother loves about young Sakura. So Mother must find the perfect future husband for her daughter. Sakura will need a stable, smart husband and Mother will not stop until she finds the perfect man for her precious daughter.

"Sasuke and I are not very close anymore." Or rather, Sasuke doesn't like her at all. They went on two dates last year before Sasuke decided she wasn't worth the time and dumped her. Sakura is still heartbroken about it.

"What about that Uzumaki boy?" Father suggests.

"Naruto?" Sakura frowns. Hinata would kill her.

"He has quite a few sports scholarships lined up, so I hear." Father says.

"Really?" Mother brightens, already planning out Sakura's life as a Trophy Wife. "He is very adorable, and nice. You like nice boys, right?"

"I don't really think Naruto and I-"

"He's got the lovelies blue eyes too. Blue eyed grandchildren would be nice."

"Grandchildren?!"

"Oh hush, Kitten, I'm just thinking ahead." Mother shushes Sakura before returning to her day dreams. "Blond is a strange hair color for Japanese babies, but he does pull it off. With a sports scholarship he will surely be able to support you."

Oh what's the point? Sakura shuts up and lets Mother plan out her life, fighting that woman is impossible. Mother won't stop until Sakura is just as successful as she is, if not more. After a point, there's no use fighting. Her parents control her life, it's true, and they won't quit until Sakura fits the profile they've written for her. They couldn't care less what Sakura really wants – they think she's too young to make any choices for herself.

Sakura gave up control a long time ago.

After dinner, she practically runs off to her room.

Once the door closes Sakura feels about to cry. She's always been a cry baby, but for once she holds back the tears. She can't cry now.

She has to get ready to hang out with Sasori.

Racking her closet, Sakura finally digs out the few black clothes she has and tries each on. The first looks more like a funeral dress, so she takes it off right away. The next is two sizes too small so it is thrown out just as fast.

Sakura sneaks over to Mother's room and finds a black shirt that has always looked best on Mother, then grabs a dark sweater and books it back to her room while Mother is in the shower. After trying them on with her black scarf, it is completely obvious that even if Sasori and Deidara want her to dress in black to be unseen her hair will make her totally visible.

Curse this pink hair.

* * *

This is so cliché.

Sasori tosses the small rock at Sakura's window.

Soooo cliché. A boy throwing rocks at a girl's window. Sasori rolls his eyes at the very idea! Damn it, he should've gotten her number before this.

He tosses another rock and waits.

The window opens and there she is, looking super hot. God, why do girls look amazing in black? Maybe it's just Sakura. That could be it. Seeing Sakura in anything but those prissy pink clothes she wears all the time is a rarity, seeing her in black is even more so.

Sakura looks down and realizes that she's going to have to sneak out.

Her parents would kill her if she even asked to go out after eight. Father watches late night sports in the living room, so she'll have to…climb down the side of the house.

She can do this. Surely she can. She's smart and sporty; Mother always said she was a good climber.

Alright…here it goes.

She sits on the edge of the window and swings both legs out, carefully stepping down onto the ceiling tiles. She slides down onto her butt, sitting on the roof carefully. Slowly, almost as slow as a sloth, Sakura edges to the side of the house.

Sasori goes over, looks up and knows right away that she can't land safely from that height.

"I'll catch you." He says.

Sakura grabs the edge of the roof, lets her legs over and…falls.

And screams. Because screaming is her thing.

Sasori catches her easily. Sakura squeaks, quickly wrapping her arms around him. He holds her and can't help but chuckle, because she's such a clumsy person it's too hard not to laugh. Sakura looks at him and gives a half smile, "So, um, how are you?"

"Fine thank you." He puts her down and steps back. "Ready to go?"

They start walking down her street and Sakura realizes they're going in the direction of the subways. She groans inside. Her first subway experience was less than good and she'd rather go the rest of her life never getting on one. If she offers to pay for a cab will Sasori get offended?

"Don't worry, we're not getting on a train." He smirks, reading her mind.

"I wouldn't mind if we did." She insists.

"Of course you wouldn't." Sasori teases.

He leads her down the steps to the platform and Sakura can't help but wonder if he was lying; if they're not getting on the train then what are they doing in the subway?

"Follow me."

"Alright?"

Sasori takes her to the side of the platform, nearly pressing up against the wall. They walk to the very edge, just before the drop onto the train tracks. Sasori looks at the other people on the platform who are all busying themselves with the what-not's of everyday life. When he's sure none of them are looking, Sasori grabs Sakura's arm and jumps off the platform and onto the tracks.

"What are you-"

Sasori covers her mouth, pulling her against the wall where no one on the platform will see them. He gives her the 'shhh' gesture.

Sakura speaks in hushed tones. "What are you doing?"

"We're going to walk."

"On the tracks?"

Sasori gives her the 'obviously' look.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Aren't you cute?" He smirks. "Come on."

Without another word or explanation, Sasori starts walking away from the platform. Sakura hesitates, because getting flattened by a train would just kill this date, but Sasori has yet to fail her so she follows after him. He seems so sure in what he does it's hard to doubt him.

Beats taking the train anyway.

The tunnels are cold though, and soon Sakura has to rub her arms to get warmth. Sasori looks at her and takes off his jacket. He puts it on her shoulders. Sakura blushes and puts her arms through it; the jacket has this musky, calming smell that can only belong to Sasori. The aroma surrounds her, giving her this sweet feeling of being enveloped by him – protected.

She sticks her hands in the jacket pockets and-

"Spray paint?" Sakura pulls a can out from the pocket.

Sasori takes it, spinning it on his finger like a basketball. "Yup."

"But why-"

"I want to show you my art." Sasori looks at her eyes and sees the beginnings of a twinkle, almost the look she had yesterday when she saw Deidara's artwork. He can't wait to see her look at his own work that way.

Her heart beats rapidly, because she feels like he's letting her into his world. She cannot wait to see his work, because art is just a glimpse into the mind and thus far Sasori has been a mystery.

"Here we are." Sasori says.

They come upon another platform. Sasori hops up before helping her climb on as well; the platform has been blocked off, the gates leading to the streets have their gates closed.

The back wall is covered in street art.

Sakura can't even process how amazing this is; so much art in one place, so many different personalities and skills – there it is again; the sense of unity. Just looking at this wall, all the work that's been put into it, is like seeing into the minds of so many different people. There's a variety of images from naturalist paintings that relax the soul to angry hardcore graphics that show the pain of the painters. The colors are all over the place and the styles are all different, but somehow they come together to make this beautiful gallery of heart pounding poetic justice.

"What…is this?" She stares.

Sasori looks at her; her eyes have that look he loves. "People come here to paint. It's blocked off so no one will stop them and no cops come here."

"It's amazing." Sakura comments.

"Thanks love!" Someone says.

Sakura realizes that they're not alone. There are other street artists here, adding their art to the wall. Right now there are only a few other people, but they look so cozy in their work Sakura has to be jealous. They have this sense of purpose that even she can see; they look right at home painting away.

"Are you going to paint?" Sakura asks.

"That's the idea." Sasori tosses his spray can up and down. "I hope you don't mind waiting a little. The in-between is boring to watch, but the end will be good."

"I wanna watch." She looks so excited, it's adorable.

Sasori smirks. He leans close enough to make her blush but only reaches into the jacket pockets to pull out four more spray cans. He holds them all in his arms. "Well, I better get started."

Sasori goes to the far side of the wall where there's only Tags. He grabs the black spray can and starts to cover the whole surface where he shall paint, to get a clean area. Sakura feels mildly bag for the Tags he's covering, but she's too excited to watch him to care for very long. After making himself a space, Sasori looks back at her.

"You need to put your scarf over your nose." Sasori says, pulling a rag from his back pocket and tying it around his lower face. "The fumes are bad to inhale for too long."

"Alright." Sakura lifts her scarf over her nose.

Sasori nods and gets back to work.

He looks so confident when he paints; moving around the wall like he's so sure in what he's doing. Sakura tries to picture what the final product will be, but she can't. Only Sasori can see the final product in his mind, and now he's just building towards it. This level of skill, to create something from nothing, is amazing. He has this blank surface, a flat sheet of blackness, and he's able to pull an image out of nowhere; like having a baby without the nine months to get ready – Sasori just creates. He forms whatever is in his mind, and has no problem doing it.

Sasori is amazing. He's an artist.

Sakura sits on the ground against one of the pillars, leaning against it. She watches Sasori paint.

Sasori is an artist…he's amazing…he's…perfect…

* * *

"Sakura, wake up."

She groans, trying to stay asleep.

"Wake up. I'm done." Sasori gives her arm a little shake. Giving in, she opens her eyes.

And sees a puppet.

A puppet that is life size, looking more like a human than a piece of wood. The puppet has strings leading upwards, attached to its body. The puppet is actually a beautiful girl; young, innocent looking, her eyes are lost though.

She has pink hair.

Sakura realizes the puppet is herself. Sasori has painted her as a puppet! The Sakura-puppet looks so realistic she thinks she's looking at a mirror instead of a wall; it's her to the dot!

From the puppet's mouth there is a bubble with words in it.

"Give me Control." Sakura reads her puppet's words aloud.

Her eyes widen. This…This is…

"When I see you at school, you are so tense and stiff. You're always on edge and out of place…like you're just waiting for someone to tell you what to do."

Sakura looks at Sasori, really looks at him, and wonders how in the world he's able to read her this well. Her whole life, she knew something was wrong – something wasn't right. She knew she didn't have something she was supposed to have, but didn't know what. But Sasori knows. He knows what she's missing.

Control.

As obvious as the day's sun, Sakura has no control. She didn't know it but it was clear; her whole life is lived at someone else's hand. Someone else is pulling her strings, making her move and talk and walk but never letting her go. Looking back on her whole life, to this very night at dinner, Sakura has always had someone else controlling her.

Sasori can see it and now she can too.

"I want you to have no strings." Sasori says.

Then he grabs her hand and puts the spray can into it.

It's a pink can, the same pink used to paint her puppet's hair on the wall.

Sasori pushes her towards the wall, right next to her puppet. "Go ahead…choose what to paint."

"Choose?" Sakura blinks.

He nods and steps back, watching her closely.

She's never done art before, so her skills are beyond lacking but she does know how to draw something right.

A flower. A Sakura.

She sprays the petals and somehow they look dainty and precious, around a bud made of small dots that are tiny and delicate. When she finishes the flower, she writes her name under it. Sakura. She is Sakura. She chose to paint on this wall, she chose to listen to Sasori, and she chose to step into this life he has just opened up to her.

She can choose. Sakura has a choice.

"It's good." Sasori comes close, looking at her flower. "A Sakura."

"You think so?" She smiles at him.

"Mm…people will think your name is your Tag, but whatever. I like it."

"Thank you." For everything.

There's a pause and for a moment things threaten to get awkward, but then Sasori actually reaches out and takes her hand. Oh. Jesus. He's holding her hand. "Let's get out of here."

They get off the platform and start back the way they came, but Sakura isn't the least bit cold this time. What with Sasori's jacket wrapped around her and his hand holding hers, there's not even a chill. His hand has wet paint on it though, so some of that smudges on her skin. Mother would just about DIE if she even saw a glimpse of smudge on Sakura's otherwise pure white skin, but Sakura loves the smudge. It feels so cool and right on her skin, she actually rubs her thumb on his palm in hopes of getting more of that smudgy-goodness.

"How long have you been doing this?" She looks at him.

"Painting my whole life, graffiti since 15." He answers.

"How did you get so good?"

"Art just takes practice." He stops. Sasori looks straight in her eyes, giving her hand a squeeze. "To be good, you have to have passion."

He's such an honest person. Sakura likes that about him.

_…HROOOOOOOOMP…HROOOOOoooommmp…_

"What's that?" Sakura blinks out of her goo-goo eyes and looks around.

_HrrrrOOOOOOOOOOMP…_

Sasori's eyes widen.

The tracks are vibrating, there's a hum coming from the walls and screeching noises farther down the tunnel. They both look and sure enough, there's a light slowly getting bigger from the far end of the tunnel. As the light gets bigger, the vibrations get heavier and the humming gets louder and louder and louder.

The train is coming.

"Run!" Sasori takes off, practically dragging Sakura behind him.

She runs and runs, trying to keep up. His hand never lets go of hers and she clings to it for life, scared beyond belief. Her heart is pounding and her mind is blank, all she can focus on is running for her life. Sasori is faster than her but he won't leave her behind, he just tries to pull her along with him. The train is shaking the whole tunnel now; it's getting closer and closer by the second. All she can hear is the _ROOOMP_ noises of the train's horn and the loud screeching of the wheels against the metal tracks.

The train is getting closer!

But there's the platform!

Sasori runs straight for it, does this incredible three step run up the side wall like they do in the movies, gets onto the platform and hauls all of Sakura straight up by her hand.

_WHOOOOOOOOSH!_

The train passes by them so quickly the air makes their hair fly back. The train goes a little further before coming to a slow, slow halt. The doors open. Passengers get on and off.

"A-are you ok?" Sasori whispers.

He's sitting up against the wall of the platform, Sakura pressed tight against him, between his legs. One arm is wrapped around her, holding her to his rising and falling chest. His other hand is caught between them, still holding her own. Sakura's face is pressed into his neck, she's panting and nearly crying, but she's alive.

"Y-You saved me." Sakura breathes, looking up at him. Her eyes are wide with fear and relief – and life. Never, ever, has she done something like that. She feels so alive! It's all thanks to Sasori.

"I wouldn't let something bad happen to you." Sasori says seriously, squeezing her hand.

That's the cue – time to kiss him.

Sakura can't help it! He saved her life! He gave her a choice! How could she _not_ kiss him right now?!

She holds his hand against her chest and closes her eyes. Sasori realizes what's about to happen and he does the same. They lean in…

"HEY YOU KIDS! WHAT WERE YOU DOING ON THE TRACKS?!"

The cops again! Sakura is really starting to hate those guys.

Sasori opens his eyes and lets out a long, super aggravated sigh. Sakura wants to do the same but now it's time for more running. So they get up and take off with the cops pushing through the crowd to get after them. They run up the stairs and charge through the streets, Sasori and Sakura, hand in hand.

(End)

I got a review saying how Tagging can make things ugly, and I agree.

Tags and Tagging…I've got conflicting feelings over them. I think Tagging can make a perfectly nice area very ugly and most of the time it looks like scribbles. I have a friend who is so proud of himself for tagging, and I always tell him that writing a name over and over again is not art no matter how fancy the letters are. On the other hand, I love the representation. When I see a wall of different tags…I can't believe how many people out there like that sort of thing; it gives me a sense of unity to tag. Tagging, it makes you belong to something.

Though, it's still not art in my mind.


	3. Pencil to Paper

I'm so sad school has started again! I miss my winter break!

Over break, I actually went bowling a lot. My friends from work and I went about...I'm gonna guess 4 times? Yeah, 4 times we went bowling in one week. It was a lot of bowling! My arm is so tired!

School is back and I'm tired all the time, I really just want to be done with school already. I'm so tired of being in this city, I can't want to go to college this year. I've got Senior-itice out the roof!

* * *

Saturday morning, Sakura wakes up very late.

So late that she already knows Mother is going to give her crap about it. So when she walks into the kitchen for a late breakfast she isn't the least bit surprised to find Mother waiting at the table, reading the paper and waiting for her.

Sakura sits at her permanent spot at the kitchen table, where Mother has already set out her meal but she does not dare take a bite until Mother has had her say on the matter. After reading the paper for a while longer, Mother puts it down and takes off her reading glasses. She looks at Sakura with those hard, demanding eyes.

"Darling, you know it is not proper for a lady to sleep past eight." Mother purses her lips in disapproval.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Sakura mumbles.

"…Just don't let it happen again." Mother sighs, picking up the paper again. "Men don't like lax women."

Once the paper is up, Sakura starts to eat. She can't stop thinking about last night, how a completely different world was opened up to her. It was rebellious and yet so right, and she can't wait for it to happen again. For a moment, in that world, there was that feeling of control. She felt complete, whole – right.

Just as she lifts the last bite of food to her mouth, Mother snaps out and grabs her wrist.

Sakura gasps loudly, shocked.

Mother's calculating green eyes narrow. She turns Sakura's hand palm up, exposing the spray paint from last night that had smudged on her hand from holding Sasori's. Sakura's throat dries up, completely scandalized. Of course Mother would spot this flaw on her otherwise perfectly clear skin. How could she be so stupid?! She should've washed it off by now!

"What is this?" Mother asks, as if asking if Sakura committed murder.

Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god OH FUCK.

"It's paint. Hinata and I are working on a school project together." Lies. Complete utter lies.

Mother looks at Sakura's eyes evenly.

There's a pause in which she thinks Mother might actually spring out at her or something, but after a moment more Mother let's go of Sakura's hand and the usual look of accepted approval comes onto her face. She accepts this reason, pleased that her adorable daughter is so keen on schoolwork. "Good, good. Hinata is definitely a good studying partner, good job dear."

Sakura gives a smile, just to show how innocent she is.

"I've got to get dressed now." She gets up, taking her dirty dishes to the kitchen for cleaning.

"Good girl." Mother smiles; no daughter of hers will waste the day away in PJs.

Sakura goes up to her room, totally shaken up from almost getting killed by her own Mother. Never has she told a lie to Mother's face, the experience was terrifying! But there is a sense of confidence; she got away with her lie, Mother bought her story – Sakura is invincible!

She gets in the shower on a total high, happy as a clam.

But when the water washes the thick, smudgy paint down the drain there is a little sadness. It feels like the water is washing away everything that happened last night, almost like it never happened.

Those thoughts are depressing so Sakura pushes them away.

Getting dressed isn't that much better though.

She puts on her pretty pink puppy sweater, denim skirt and brown boots – clothes she's been wearing her whole life. Somehow, though, her skin is getting itchy. Everything is too tight! Too…plain. Is this really her favorite sweater?

It all looks so out of place on her body.

Looking in the mirror, she spots something dark in the background. Sakura turns and sees it…

Sasori's jacket.

She must've forgotten to give it back to him when he dropped her off last night. How couldn't she have noticed it sooner – it's the only piece of black in this whole room! Sakura goes over to it, lifting the jacket off the chair she'd thrown it on in a fit of sleepiness last night. Dusting it off, she makes a mental note to give it back to Sasori the next time she sees him.

Got to put this in a safe place…

Turning, she looks in the mirror again.

Maybe…

Sakura puts Sasori's jacket on again, the black clashing with her outfit and hiding her pink sweater. She looks nothing like herself, almost a completely different person and totally…totally…

Natural.

Sasori's jacket looks so casual on her, as if it's always been meant for her. It also feels very soft and smooth, comforting. Just like Sasori. She blushes at the thought, ties her hair up and stares at herself in the mirror some more. God, whose going to recognize her like this?!

But she refuses to take it off.

* * *

"Let's go in there!" Ino squeals, pointing at a store.

"Come on Sakura!" Hinata smiles brightly.

"Ok." She follows them.

Huh...usually she enjoys shopping so much, but today it's really boring. They're going into their favorite stores and there are a lot of really good sales but Sakura can't find a damn thing she likes enough to try on. Ino and Hinata already have multiple bags hanging from their arms, while Sakura has nothing. The more they shop, the more she questions her style choices. Does she really wear this much pink?

"I've been meaning to ask, Sakura, where did you get this?" Hinata looks at Sakura's jacket.

"Yeah, it's nothing like you." Ino purses her lips, "Its so...dark."

Is it? She thinks its actually very warm and nice. "I got it from a friend."

"A friend?" Hinata blinks. "Who?"

"Uuuuuh..." Sakura looks away.

Ino gasps, dropping the purple shirt she's been coveting. Her blue eyes widen dramatically and she has a huge smile. "Oh. My. God. Is it a boy?! Are you wearing some boy's jacket?!"

"UUUUUUUH..." Sakura tries to look anywhere but at Ino.

"IT IS! It totally is a boy's jacket!" Ino is completely over joyed. "WHO?!"

"A b-boy?" Hinata is blushing now. "Sakura do you have a b-boyfriend?"

Lying to her mother is one thing, but lying to her two best friends is literally impossible. Ino is pretty much a lie detector.

So, she'll just have to use plan B.

"Ino, how are Shikamaru and Temari doing?" Sakura asks, completely changing the subject. "I heard they're still dating."

Ino's smile turns upside down.

"STILL?! No way! AUGH! What does he see in her?!" Fire practically comes out of Ino's ears. "I swear, she is so wrong for him! They won't last another month, you can count on it!

"Why does he even like her? She's so ratty!"

Ino looks at Hinata for the answers. "I'm s-sure you're much prettier."

"Than why did he go out with her and not me?!" Ino stomps off to the dresses on the far end, fuming all over. Hinata goes over to try and comfort their blond friend, leaving Sakura to herself.

She watches them fret over their gossip, talk about boys and love and teenage crap. It's all so irrelevant, Sakura can hardly believe she used to talk about all this stuff too. Whose dating who, which dress looks prettier, buy this or buy that; it's all so materialistic and pointless.

Sasori doesn't talk about pointless stuff.

He talks about art and passion, creativity and life. He has his own world - where there is no need to impress others, no need to change yourself to fit what others want. You're you in his world, and he is himself too. Sakura wants to be in that world so much, where she doesn't have to force herself to fit in and succumb to another person's idea of what's right or what's wrong.

Things get really boring here, and if she stares at any more pink her brain is going to explode into puppies - time to bounce.

Sakura walks out of the store and right when she does, across the hall of the mall, is an art store called Paper Flowers.

Despite the fact that her art skill is equal to a five year old, Sakura goes straight into the art store without a second thought.

Don't laugh, but in her whole 17 years of living Sakura has never been into an art store. Even though she comes to this exact mall at least once a week, she's never even noticed this store. Even now, she wonders if its always been here.

And what a store it is.

The walls are lined with paint cans, brushes and scratchers. There are thousands of colors all over the place, and materials Sakura has never heard of. Some of the materials she can't even pronounce. There's frames, canvases in all sizes stacked in tall piles. Markers of all sizes, fat and tiny, are placed so carefully on a five row shelf in the middle with equally organized shelves of crayons and pencils beside it. In the back are tall, tall, tall bookshelves of art books and artist biographies that cover the whole wall, side to side, top to bottom.

Different types of paper, plastic, tape, anything you can think of are all over the place. Everything comes in every color of the rainbow and more.

It's so amazing, so colorful, so...so...

"Can I help you?"

Sakura turns, looks at the front counter where a cashier stands. She's got long blue hair with a cute white flower on the side. Her blue eyes, lined in black, look at Sakura calmly.

"Can I help you?" She repeats.

Sakura tries to look like she fits in here. "Do you have any...spray paint?"

The cashier's eyes widen a bit in surprise. After a pause, she comes around the counter. "Follow me."

They go to a back room, tucked away in the corner and blocked off by a blue curtain. The cashier pushes the curtain back and Sakura gasps.

The whole room, the WHOLE room, is lined all around with spray paint. So many colors, so many brands, everything! Cans after Cans of paint, with different nubs and tabs. Looking at them all almost makes her dizzy. It takes her breath away.

"I want to buy some." Sakura mumbles.

"Each one costs about-"

"I don't care how much, I just want to buy." Sakura turns to the girl in blue, eyes twinkling like stars. She grabs the girl's hands and looks at her seriously. "You have to help me pick out some!"

The cashier blinks. "...My name is Konan."

"I'm Sakura."

"Which colors would you like?"

"Mmm...a pink, for sure. A green too. I guess a black would be useful." She takes a second to think. She decides. "And a red."

"Alright, well these ones are the best for tagging. These are good for 3D art, any are good for stencils but I like these, they're easy to work with." Konan walks around the room with Sakura, pointing out different kinds. There's so many different types it's hard to keep track of.

"The red one has to be the best one." Sakura insists. "It's a gift."

Konan nods.

They spend a few minutes looking through the shelves of paint, trying to find the absolute best possible cans. Sakura learns a lot about the world of spray paint from Konan, who seems to have endless knowledge on the subject. She's never met such an intelligent person as Konan, let alone someone so cool.

"There you go. Is that all?" Konan asks, holding out a bag of Sakura's paint.

"Yeah...can I get your number?" Sakura asks.

Konan stares. "I'm sorry, but I don't hop that side of the fence."

"WHAT?!" Sakura blushes, totally flustered. "No, no! Not like that! I want to be friends!"

"Friends?" Konan blinks.

"Yeah."

There's a pause before Konan actually gives the smallest of smiles. She grabs a marker, reaches for Sakura's arm and writes her cell phone number on her wrist in blue ink. Sakura smiles happily; talking to Konan is actually a lot nice than talking to Hinata and Ino. It's far more interesting.

"Do you do a lot of street art?" Konan asks, putting her marker away.

"Not really," Sakura blushes again, "But I have a...friend (Friend? Boyfriend?) who does. He takes me with him sometimes."

Konan smirks at this. "Sounds romantic."

"W-We're just friends!" Sakura squeaks, turning all kinds of red. Konan only smirks wider.

"Text me when you're out painting, I might come around." Konan says.

Sakura smiles now, nodding. It's nice to make new friends.

Before she leaves the store, Sakura puts the bag of spray paint into her purse so Ino and Hinata won't be suspicious. She leaves with her paint and Konan's number on her arm, feeling completely at ease than before she came in.

* * *

When she gets back from the mall, she's super tired. Not physically, but mentally. Listening to Ino and Hinata gossip on and on about boys and romance and other generic crap is seriously hurting her brain.

Sakura can hardly believe she's been talking about all this stuff for so long. All this pointless crap. For some reason, Sakura can see how plain and selfish her life and the things around her are. What's the meaning in all this? Going to the mall every week, flirting with boys, obeying every single rule - why? Why does everything that was important not seem important anymore? Big questions are slamming her in the head now- Who is she? What does she want from this life?

If only she knew.

When small rocks knock against her window, Sakura already knows whose outside.

Her heart jumps in her chest and she quickly rushes to the window, opening it and looking down.

Sure enough, Sasori is standing right below her window. Sakura waves to him and he smirks at her, giving a wave back. Right away, Sakura pulls on her shoes and climbs out her window. It isn't that hard, this time, to climb down. Sasori doesn't even have to catch her this time!

"Hey." Sasori mumbles.

"Hi." Sakura blushes.

Both of them think of last night, when Sasori had held Sakura so close. When they'd almost kissed...

Both of them blush.

Casually, though still super shyly, Sasori steps forward and wraps his arms around her.

Her cheeks color and she feels happy tingles all the way to her toes. Lifting her arms up his back, Sakura hugs Sasori too. They stay like that for a moment, because her hair smells super good and his chest is super soft and both of them are super happy in this position. When they pull back, the tense air has softened considerably.

"Are you...Are you wearing my jacket?" He asks, surprised.

"Oh, yeah I am." She answers shyly. "I hope you don't mind, I kinda borrowed it for the day."

"I don't mind." He takes the corner of the jacket in his hand, rubbing the fabric. "You look good."

"Thanks."

"Come on." Sasori actually grabs her hand, holding it. They walk down the streets, but don't take the subway this time. The air is cold but his jacket keeps her warm. His hand is making her warm too, it's really nice.

Night has just fallen and the stars are slowly becoming visible.

Sasori leads the way but after a while, Sakura realizes where they're going. They reach a park not to far from her house, the same park she used to play in as a child. There are a lot of memories here. This is where she met Hinata, who has fallen off the swing and wouldn't stop crying until Sakura had kissed the bruise on her knee. It's also where her first tooth fell out. That far tree on the right is where she would hide all the time during hide and seek, the branches were easy to climb. The summers used to be so nice here.

Since it's close to Christmas, there are lights wrapped around the trees. It's very romantic.

Sasori walks her over to a bench, the same bench her mother used to sit and watch her play from.

When they sit, he still holds her hand.

"This is nice." He says.

"I used to come here as a kid." She tells him.

"Oh?" Sakura must've been a very cute kid. He smiles at the thought of her as a little girl with pig tails, or maybe red cheeks and adorable girly dresses.

"Yeah." She looks around, imagining her memories coming to life. Then she looks at Sasori, and wants to make a new memory. "I have something for you."

"Really?"

"Mmhm." Shifting, she pulls the red spray can from the jacket pocket. Confidently, Sakura holds it up to him. "Here."

"Hey, this is a really amazing brand." Sasori observes, completely surprised. He shakes the can, the tiny metal ball inside rattles around. The red is almost identical to his hair and even though he hardly ever, if not never, uses red in any of his art Sasori right away plans to use this red in as many pieces of work as possible. He looks at Sakura, uncharacteristically giving a happy smile. "Thank you, I'll use it all the time."

"Good. I wasn't sure if you'd like it, but the girl at the art store helped me pick it out." Sakura explains. "She was really cool."

"I feel bad for not getting you anything." Sasori says, giving her hand a squeeze. "Is there anything you want?"

Sakura thinks for a moment.

"Can you teach me to paint?" She asks.

He's very surprised, but pleased by this answer. Sakura wanting to paint just shows how right he is in thinking that she's more than just another prissy rich girl. Already he's thinking of all the possibilities; Sakura is such a bright person, she'll definitely paint something amazing. Sasori has never had such confidence in another person, but she just has this air of perfection. She's really...beautiful.

"Alright. I'll teach you." He digs into his pocket, pulling out a thick marker. "Give me your arm."

Sakura holds out the arm that doesn't have Konan's phone number. Sasori holds it gently, brushing his thumb over her soft skin. He lets go of her other hand and gives her the marker. "See that tree?"

She looks at the one he points at. "Yeah."

"Draw it." Sasori says, touching her arm again. "Everyone sees the world differently. In art, you have to show how you see."

Looking at the tree a little while longer, Sakura starts to draw on her skin. Her tree is very childish and adorable, little a baby tree. Sasori looks at it fondly.

Sasori takes the marker, pulls back his sleeve and draws his own version of the tree. His is very tall, thin and almost robotic looking. It's much more detailed than her own. He tries to help her build a style, easily seeing that she's good at drawing cartoonish type things. Which is good, cartoons are simple and adorable - just like her.

"Now the swings."

"The grass."

"The brick walls."

They go on and on for a long time, drawing back and forth - different versions of the same thing. Her art slowly begins to change from talentless sticks to something with more skill. They draw until her right arm and his left are covered in ink, almost like tattoo sleeves. When there's no more room to draw, they just look at each other's arms and compare their work. They talk for what seems like forever, but not once do they feel tired or tense or bored.

So, when Sakura actually gets around to checking the time, she's really shocked. What feels like ten minute has actually been four hours.

"It's really, really late." Sakura says. "I should get home."

"...Why don't you stay at my place?" Sasori looks at her.

"C-Can I do that?" Sleeping over at a boy's house is probably one of the top ten things her parents would never, ever allow her to do.

"Yeah. You don't even have to climb in through the window." He smirks. Then he looks at her seriously. "Nothing...weird will happen. I promise."

Oh how she trusts him. "Alright."

(End)

Mmmm Tru-Moo.

Tru-Moo milk has to be the best milk in the history of milkness. It spurs the creativity, just so you know. I was drinking it why I was writing this and I could totally feel the creative juices a'flowin. Ahhhh Tru-Moo.

The chocolate Tru-Moo milk is my favorite. Awesome.

PLEASE review. Please, please, pleaaaaase.


	4. together

Guess what! I went out and spray painted!

Yup. It was totally lagit. I grabbed two spray cans, went out with my friend Matt and we totally painted some walls.

First we painted a rocket ship on a table in the park, then we went to a giant wall and that painting is a little harder to describe sooo yeah. Then we went to the flood gates in front of this long road and painted on some of the water moderators there, which was super hard because cars kept passing by.

So yeah, my life as a Graffiti artist is just beginning! Matt is coming over this weekend and we're going out to paint some more, but we've decided to use some stencils because it's quicker and cleaner.

I feel more in touch with this story now.

* * *

"Here we are." Sasori says, opening the front door of his apartment.

Sakura cautiously walks in, not really sure what she'll see.

What she finds is a large room full of amazing works of art. There are tons of drawings and paintings on the walls. The puppets stacked around the room don't really surprise her, since all of Sasori's street art contains some sort of puppet, but there are clay birds that don't really make sense. The clay birds are hanging from the ceiling by some string; they're beautiful, but nothing like Sasori. All the prints and sketches on the walls are very interesting, if not ironic.

The furniture looks ten times comfier than anything she has at home, and the whole place has this...homey feel to it. It's very relaxing.

Sakura walks farther into the apartment, finding a complete warmth inside. There's a whimsical feel to this place, one full of imagination and hope. She can't shake the feeling that she's looking into Sasori's mind, seeing all there is to see. She feels all the more close to him.

This whole apartment is like a dream. It's so-

"Danna are you back already?"

Deidara comes out from one of the bedrooms in the back. He's wearing a white undershirt and - oh man- boxers with pink bunnies on them!

Sakura can't stop herself. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!"

"S-S-Sakura?!" Deidara's whole face turns red.

"Are you wearing bunny slippers too?!" Sakura laughs louder, pointing at the long eared slippers on his feet. "AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!"

"They're adorable!" Deidara fumes, stomping his foot. "Don't make fun of my slippers!"

Sakura keeps laughing, Deidara puffs up like an embarrassed balloon and Sasori just rolls his eyes. He steps between the two of them, "Dei, Sakura is going to spend the night here." Sasori looks at Sakura. "Deidara is my roommate."

"Roommate?" She stops laughing, surprised.

"Yeah, we've lived together since last year. My parents totally kicked me out, so Danna decided to buy an apartment with me." Deidara explains, grinning. "The more the merrier! Welcome to our home!"

"Thanks. I love your artwork." She compliments.

"Do you? Isn't it amazing? All the birds are mine." Dei says. He starts for the kitchen. "You're just in time for dinner."

"It's, like, three in the morning." Sakura grins.

"The perfect time for meat buns and rice!"

Sasori follows after the two of them. The kitchen is only big enough for a table with some chairs, a fridge and a stove. There are some cabinets above the stove, but the room is very small. Behind the table is a window, out the window is the city; lights twinkle and shine like little stars. Sakura can't believe the city is so big, and she hopes that somehow she'll be able to explore all of it.

She hopes Sasori will help her explore it, too.

"Here ya go." Deidara sets a plate in front of Sakura with three large meat buns, then one in front of Sasori and his own spot at the table. He sits, looking very dignified in his pink bunny boxers. He takes a big bite of his meat bun. "So, Sakura, where do you live?"

"The Northeast side."

Deidara chokes on his food. "No shit?"

"She's a princess." Sasori teases, eating his rice first. He looks at Sakura. "Deidara used to live up there, too."

"No shit?!" Sakura's eyes widen. Sasori smirks, hearing Sakura cuss is funny.

"Mmm, my parents are successful architects." Deidara explains. There's a sour look on his face. "They didn't like my art, but I couldn't stop. When they found out I was painting the streets, they told me to either give it up or get out. So I left..."

"You did?" Sakura is really impressed.

"I could never give up my art..." Deidara mumbles, looking out at the city. "I want everyone to see it. I don't care how, I just want them to see."

That's very...Sakura is envious. She's never thought of leaving her home, and she's sure she wouldn't be able to last long on her own, but somehow the idea of running away is very tempting. She loves her parents, even if they are super strict and make her life hell, but...to be able to live her own way, to not worry about being a disappointment...

To be her own person.

She can't even picture Deidara without art.

"I'm lucky Danna came with me, or I would'a dyed."

Sakura looks at Sasori, eyebrows raised.

Sasori blushes, swallowing his food. "Deidara can't even use the stove, he wouldn't last a day without me."

"So your parents just let you leave?" She asks.

"My mom died a long time ago. My dad remarried a nice lady. When I asked to move out with Deidara, they said ok as long as it was still in the city and always answer their calls. Now they have a baby, my little sister, but I'm not really part of their family anymore." Sasori muses on his life, not really bothered by his troubles. "My dad calls sometimes to check in, but I'm mostly on my own now a days."

"You have a sister?"

"She's...two? Two. I babysit her sometimes."

"How cute." Sakura smiles. Sasori isn't very friendly, so picturing him holding a baby girl is really cute and hilarious. "How do you guys make rent?"

"We sell our art." Deidara answers. "And we work full time jobs during the summer."

"Sometimes my dad will send us money." Sasori says. "He's a nice guy."

"You're totally gonna grow up and be like him." Deidara laughs. He drinks some tea, washing down the rice. Deidara sighs. "Man, one day we're gonna be so fucking famous."

"Totally." Sasori agrees.

"You guys should open up an art shop." Sakura suggests. She already can picture it, and maybe Konan can work there. They could all be good friends.

"That would be the life." Sasori sighs, leaning back in his chair.

"Mm, I can totally picture it. It'd be on the corner of 55th and Tramway." Deidara grins. "I would paint birds all over the walls."

"That would be cool." Sakura smiles.

They talk like this for a long time, about the future. Their dreams. There's this comfort between them, where no walls are standing and no boundaries holding them back. Sakura doesn't think twice about what to say and what not to say, because somehow it's obvious Deidara and Sasori won't judge her.

They talk and talk and talk. They talk about their past, their hopes. They talk about life. They talk about death. Their talk is one of the most serious Sakura's ever had in her life, but she knows that this will not be the only time they talk about such things. She can already tell that they'll have many more conversations like this, and that makes her so happy.

Talking to Sasori and Deidara is nothing like talking to Ino and Hinata.

And, with this one talk, Sakura feels closer to both of them than she ever did with Ino and Hinata; with anyone, actually.

She feels apart of their world. (Like the Little Mermaid)

"I promise, it's usually a lot cleaner." Sasori says, opening the door to his bedroom. "I've just been too busy to clean lately."

His walls are the same colors as the rising sun, but the ceiling is like a mirror image of the blue sky. Like Deidara's birds hanging in the main room, Sasori's bedroom has tiny puppets hanging down by strings. The puppets almost look like angels, dancing in the sky.

There are actually a lot of books in here, stacked along the shelves on the walls. Of course, spray cans are all over the floor and on the dresser. There's a desk against one of the walls, beside a window, that has thousands of little sketches on it.

Against the wall are canvases, some covered in beautiful paintings and some blank - waiting to be drawn on.

The bed is pushed against the middle of the back wall. There are at least five blankets thrown across it, with tons of different pillows flung over it. The whole room looks so thrown together but also amazingly perfect. It looks so Sasori.

"I love your room." She smiles at him.

Sasori blushes, scratching the back of his head. "It's alright..."

"Uh, do you have a shirt I could wear to bed maybe?" She asks shyly.

Just picturing her in his shirt is doing all sorts of amazing things to his brain. Sasori nods. He looks around, before deciding to just give her the shirt on his back. When he pulls it off, Sakura's whole face turns red. His chest is smooth, almost toned but mostly lean. There's a tan to his skin, like he's been in the sun all day even though its midwinter.

"Here." Sasori hands her his shirt.

She holds it close. It's warm, and smells just like him.

Sasori grabs a blanket and a pillow. "I'm gonna sleep on the couch, get me if you need anything."

"Alright." Sakura reaches out one hand, touching his bare shoulder. His skin shivers under the cool touch of her fingers. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"Anytime." Sasori says.

Ok. Just- just kiss her. You can do it Sasori. Just kiss her goodnight, like every girl dreams a guy will do, and then...

"Goodnight." He pulls back slowly, walking out the door. Idiot.

Sakura waits for him to leave, the door shutting all the way, before breathing evenly again. She takes off her clothes and pulls on his shirt, the warmth from his skin touches her skin - almost as if he was hugging her.

When she climbs into bed, there's nothing more relaxing. Sasori's bed is beyond comfortable, but she wishes that maybe he'll sneak in tonight while she's sleeping and climb into bed with her.

Sakura looks at the sky-ceiling and lets her mind imagine Sasori, sleeping next to her. Holding her. Being with her.

She falls asleep, imagining him kissing her.

* * *

Food. Yummy food.

Getting up, Sakura follows her nose. She walks out of Sasori's room and into the kitchen, blinking the sleep from her eyes to see perfectly made pancakes on the table. Homemade pancakes! Oh god, Mother would DIE if she caught Sakura eating so much sugar, fat and carbs in one dish!

"Want some?" Deidara asks, looking up at her.

"Five!" Sakura sits down, grabbing a fork and practically wagging her tale with glee.

Deidara laughs, stacking her a plate and putting extra syrup on top. Sakura eats so fast she almost chokes. Homemade food is a rarity at her house! Everything is cooked by the maids who just follow mindless recipes and there's no way Mother would ever let something so deliciously fattening be served in her house.

Oh maaaan, these are so good. This is _heaven_!

"More!" Sakura asks, holding up her plate.

"Yes, dear." Deidara takes her dish. He goes to the stove, pouring some batter on the pan. "Why don't you go wake up Sasori? He needs to get here before you eat everything."

"Sasori?" Sakura blinks.

"He's on the couch."

She gets up and goes out the kitchen to the main room but stops, catching her breath.

Swear to God, there is nothing, NOTHING, cuter than Sasori sleeping.

Oh if only she had a camera!

Sasori looks so utterly peaceful, his eyes shut and chest breathing slowly. Awake, he's already a calm person but asleep is a whole different thing. He looks like a delicate child, lost in a dream. Oh if only she could see what he's dreaming, it's probably a dream ten times more creative than anything she could ever come up with.

Watching him, like this, makes her feel calm as well. Sasori gives her this peace, whenever they're together; a peace she's never had.

He's just too adorable!

"Maybe..." She mumbles to herself.

Sakura goes over to sit on her knees beside the couch and Sasori's sleeping form. She carefully brushes his tasseled hair out of his face, feeling his warm skin against her fingers. Sakura blushes, because what she's about to do is totally embarrassing but she simply can't resist!

She leans up on her knees, balances her weight on her hands and kisses him.

Her lips brush against his softly, gentle as a feather. The kiss is quick, because she would just die if he woke up and caught her, so just as soon as it begins it ends. Sakura pulls back, opening her eyes and-

"Sakura."

Oh. God.

Sasori's eyes are open, completely awake.

He's staring at her, those deep brown eyes just watching her. Oh shit! She should not have done that! This is so embarrassing! She's gonna die, right here, of embarrassment!

Except, right when she is about to die, Sasori reaches out.

He takes her face in his hands, thumbs brushing her cheeks, and brings her face close again. His eyes forever stare into hers until she can't bare it and closes them. Sasori leans forward, pulling her in, and presses their lips back together. His kiss is much heavier than hers was, and much longer. His hot mouth moves with hers, stealing her first real kiss just like that. When he pulls away, taking her breath with him, Sasori touches their foreheads together and stares into her eyes.

Seeing right through her.

His hand goes to the back of her neck before he pulls her back in, kissing her again. Sakura feels like she's about to lose herself, because tingles are going through her body like nothing she's ever felt before. She grabs onto his shoulders, holding onto him before she's lost into this wanting, this burning, desire. The desire to let him capture her into his being - to take her away from here.

The desire to be in his world.

"Soooo Ex-ney on the breakfast?" Deidara asks.

Sakura squeaks, pulling away and blushing in embarrassment. "T-This isn't what it looks like!"

Both the boys give her a look to which she resorts to hiding her face in Sasori's blanket. Sasori smiles softly, brushing his hand over her hair as she tries to bury herself in his side.

"Seriously though, are you gonna eat or not? I love a late breakfast as much as the next guy, but this is just silly."

"Wait, what time is it?" Sakura asks, looking up from her blanket escape.

"12:30."

"In the afternoon?!" Sakura screams, jumping up. "I AM SO DEAD!"

She runs back to Sasori's room, throws off his shirt and quickly gets dressed. She stumbles back out into the main room, trying to tie her shoes and fix her scarf at the same time. She looks at them, totally freaking out. "Guys what am I gonna do?! I'm so dead! My mom is going to murder me! Dad is going to flip, oh god if they figure out where I've been all night! They'll lock me up every night and I'll be forced to rewrite the dictionary again! I can't do it again! I can't! Do you know how many paper cuts I got last time?!"

"Calm down, calm down!" Deidara waves his hands around. "Don't worry!"

"How can I not worry?!" Sakura frets.

Sasori smirks. "We got a plan."

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Trust me."

Sakura swallows, raises her hand and knocks on the front door.

After a moment, Father opens it. He looks quite shaken up, when he sees Sakura he physically relaxes but frowns. "Sakura! Where have you been? You weren't in your room this morning, do you know how worried I've been?!"

"I'm sorry dad!" Sakura tries to look as vulnerable as possible. "I was, just, um, working all night with Dei on a school project and ended up staying at her house, cause it was so late."

"Dei?" Father raises an eyebrow.

"Hiiiii~" Deidara waves girlishly.

He's wearing a skirt with leggings, a pink jacket and his hair is down. There's blush on his cheeks and eyeliner and lipstick and other makeups on his face. At first, the idea was completely ridiculous but now it's just genius. Deidara looks so much like a girl like this, five guys hit on him on the subway over here.

"I'm sorry for keeping her, I just needed a lot of help on our project!" Deidara says in a light voice, sounding so feminine. "Please forgive me~"

Father stares at Deidara for a second; Sakura is about to panic but then Father nods. "Right, well...you should've called!"

"I know! I was just so tired from working, I forgot." Sakura lies. "I'll never do it again, I promise!"

"Well...it's not like this happens often...and it was for school..." Father sighs, waving her inside. "Go to your room, young lady."

"Thanks dad!" Sakura brightens, they totally pulled it off! She turns to Deidara, trying not to laugh. She hugs him in that way girls hug. "Thanks Dei, for everything!"

"Of course, babe." Deidara giggles, striking a girlish pose with his hand on his hip. "Call me later sweetie!"

As Deidara skips back down the street, Sakura has to laugh a little because...pfft...hahahaha, he looks just like Ino!

She goes up to her room, closes the door and takes a breath. This...this is the craziest week ever! She's lived more in the last three days than her whole life. Spray painting, running from the cops, sleeping over at a boy's house, lying to her parents, sneaking out at night...kissing...

Lying on her bed, Sakura closes her eyes and sees Sasori's sleeping form. She pictures their kiss over and over again until she's blushing like the virgin she is, totally lost in her fantasies.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

* * *

On Monday, Sakura wakes up fully excited.

She gets dressed, makes sure to grab Sasori's jacket and eats breakfast as fast as she can. She leaves the house as soon as she can and runs down the street to the subway. Weird, she's not scared of the underground train anymore...that, or she's just too excited to care.

Turn left, right at the next corner, down the stairs aaaaaaand...

Ah! There he is!

Sasori sees her running down the stairs to the train platform. He's about to walk over to her but she rushes right into him, throwing her arms around his neck in an adorable hug. Man, she is so cute. Sasori hugs her back, completely at loss for how such an adorable creature could even care about him this much.

"Ready to go?" He asks, letting her out of his arms.

"Yeah." Sakura smiles at him, totally buzzing with happiness.

Sasori smirks, amused by her fit of cuteness. He grabs her hand and walks into the train with her, going to the back.

Sakura looks at the wall of the train and gasps. "My tag!"

They look at it, easily finding Sakura's perfectly written name in the clutter of tags. That was three days ago, when they met. It feels like such a long time ago, how could they be this comfortable with each other in three days? It's crazy!

"You need to teach me how to write better." Sakura says.

"What?" He raises an eyebrow. "Your handwriting is beautiful."

"Well, yeah, but I can't write in graffiti letters!" She pouts, her cheeks puffing up so adorably. Sasori can't help it, he pinches her cheeks playfully.

"Graffiti isn't that great. It's just fancy lettering, not street art." He stretches her cheeks, giving them a good squeeze.

"Stooooop iiiiiiit~" Sakura whines, trying to pull his hands off her face.

Sasori smiles gently, because Sakura is just too amusingly sweet. He never really interacts with other people, because they're all annoying, but Sakura is different. She's adorable and cute and sweet and he just loves her eyes, the way she looks at things; her curiosity is very touching. Her willingness to understand what she doesn't know isn't very common in the people of today, and the fact that she just wants to understand him makes Sasori very attracted to her. He's never really thought himself that interesting, but Sakura makes him feel special.

And he is special, at least to her.

"I bought a sketch book after I got home yesterday," Sakura explains as she rubs her sore cheeks, "You can teach me how to draw in it."

"Alright." Sasori nods.

His eyes soften in a way that totally lets you know he's going to kiss her. Sakura sees this and her cheeks get super red, because she reaaaaally wants to kiss him again. So, closing her eyes, she leans up on her tip toes and touches her hands to his shoulders. Feeling as if his breath is too thick to swallow, Sasori carefully puts his hands on her hips. He brings her closer, holding her against him.

When he kisses her, there's this strange sense that they've known each other forever. Which is weird because they just met three days ago, but there's a time in everyone's lives when they meet a person who they just know is important, who they know will make a difference in their lives, who they know they can't stay away from. That's how Sakura feels about Sasori.

Calling him her boyfriend sounds...weird.

Last week, she would've given anything to have a boyfriend, but her relationship with Sasori is too profound for that. Too mature. He's not just a boyfriend, he's...something more. Something she's been missing her whole life.

He's that something that makes her feel, well, whole. Completed.

When the train stops, he pecks her one more time before pulling back. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." She twines their fingers together.

Is it too soon to say I love you? Totally. Saying that right now would be ridiculous, and assuming they'll be together forever is just as stupid. No one falls in love in three days, that only happens in books and movies. Right now, she knows they're not in love.

But one day, they both know, they will be.

"Are your friends going to pull you away again?" Sasori asks as they walk towards the school.

"Of course not." Maybe.

"Good. I would have to steal you away if they tried to." He smirks at her.

Sakura feels her cheeks darken. Sasori decides he loves this look on her face, he lets go of her hand to place it around her waist and in this manner they enter the courtyard.

Right when they walk in, everyone starts gawking at them.

_"Who is that with Sakura?"_

_"Are they dating?" _

_"Lucky guy."_

_"Isn't he a criminal?"_

_"I heard he went to jail three times for vandalism."_

_"-total loser."_

_"What **is** she thinking?" _

Sasori looks at Sakura. "Are you ready?"

Sakura looks at Sasori. "Mm, I think so."

(End)

I have a dream, and I really want to tell you about it.

My dream is to get my teaching degree and move to England. England is my dream. I've wanted to move there for five years, actually more than that. I've always had this vision of England - a super edgy place where I can be so out of place but still be in touch with myself.

It's just...something I've always wanted, to be in a place different from my own where I'm to odd one out, where people look at me and think 'she's not from around here'. Plus, I have so many idols from England.

I was watching my stories, and one of the guys said he was going to sell all his stuff, pack up the rest and move to Italy. He was so dead set on it, I was very envious.

But I'm scared. I'm scared that I won't make any friends or people won't be very accepting of me there. Not to dis on the Europeans, but America is probably the most accepting place on the planet. You could be drop dead crazy, totally weird, beyond whore-y and people here will still look at you kindly. That's what I love about America. But England, though not as accepting, has created some of the most amazing people in the universe sooo...

I'm just scared that I won't meet anyone, or find a husband/wife.

But it's my dream, ya know. I just...It's my dream.


	5. Paint

*Republicans cover your ears, I'm about to have a Gay-Democrat Moment*

I am so, so touched at President Obama's inauguration speech. I was so touched, I cried. I'm 100% serious right now.

When he said equality for gays, I was so proud. I was so touched. My heart was beating so hard and for a moment I thought, maybe I can actually marry who I want to. I thought, maybe, in this lifetime, I'll be able to bring a girl home to my family and be able to kiss her the same way my other straight family members can kiss their husbands and wives.

I've always thought that politics don't care about us gays. In their mind, there are other important issues than rather a girl can marry a girl or a boy can marry a boy. What they don't know is that they're hurting people by putting us gays aside; our hearts are bitter, everyday you hear about gays killing themselves. Everyday I lie to my parents because I'm too scared to tell them about my love life. I can't be honest with the world because I'm too scared; because I know what people think about me and my fellow gays - it's just a phase, we're just looking for attention, there's no such thing as being gay or bisexual or whatever.

It doesn't hurt me when people say those things. What really hurts me is my rights being ignored, is when the government looks the other way, when there is no recognition of me as a person.

But Obama, you can say what you want about him but the fact is he's the first president to even think about gay rights. The first one. No president before now has even thought about the rights for gay people or for equality. I can't even begin to say how much a respect him right now, and I can't help thinking that someday I'll be able to go out with a girl and not feel like everyone else is staring at us like we're sinners.

* * *

"So, this is Ino and Hinata. We've been bestest friends since elementary school," Sakura introduces. She slips her hand around his arm, "This is Sasori, my boyfriend."

"H-Hi." Hinata stutters, looking like a scared little mouse.

Ino just stays quiet, her arms crossed and her lips in a straight line.

"Nice to meet you." He says, even though he'd rather be in a thousand other places than here. But Sakura is holding his arm and her hand is warm and she's looking so hopeful that he doesn't dare walk away.

Like it or not, these are Sakura's friends. He's her boyfriend now, so that means he has to get along with them.

Boyfriend. He tries to be cool about it; Sasori's never been a 'boyfriend' before.

"I'm glad you guys have finally met." Sakura says, rubbing Sasori's arm with her thumb.

"W-Well, I'm j-just surprised you found a b-b-boyfriend so s-suddenly." Hinata says, trying to hold a smile. "Y-You never t-t-told us about-"

"So, how long have you guys known each other?" Ino asks, cutting her friend off.

There's an edge to Ino's voice and Sakura knows exactly what it means. When she tenses, Sasori notices and tries to stand on guard. Just the look in this blond girl's eyes alone makes him uneasy, but he doesn't like how her looks are making Sakura react.

Its clear Ino's opinion has some control over his girlfriend.

"A few days." He answers.

"Ah." Ino narrows her cold eyes.

They're in the courtyard, it's lunchtime and they're sitting at a table right under the peaceful oak tree that everyone else would love to sit at. The air is still cold, since it's winter, but the sun is hitting them nicely. The whole scene is very cozy, but the situation is tense and hard.

Sasori doesn't like this one bit.

"But we're super close, Sasori makes me really happy." Sakura insists, a little shaky.

"Does he?" Ino asks.

"I try." He answers.

"Try? Sakura doesn't need someone who will try, she needs someone who will definitely, positively, without a doubt make her happy." Ino snaps, nearly scolding. "What makes you think you can do that? You hardly know her."

"I know more than you do." Sasori snaps back.

"S-Sasori!" Sakura pales.

Fire practically comes out of Ino's ears.

She stands up, glaring down at him. "How dare you; I'm her best friend! You don't know her life!"

"And you don't know what she needs." He gets up, staring at this blond hoe head on.

This girl, she's one of the reasons Sakura is sad all the time. One of the reasons Sakura has to hide her true feelings, one of the reasons she has to keep quiet, one of the reasons she can't control her own life; this makes Ino someone Sasori does not want around his girlfriend. No one is going to make Sakura sad, not when he's around.

She's his girlfriend, his, and no one will break what's his.

"What she needs?!" Ino is practically burning up with anger. "What she doesn't need is a guy who can't even obey the law! Someone who goes around defacing property and causing trouble, as if she needs someone like that! You're just going to run her life and break her heart and-"

"Stop it!" Sakura stands up, looking just about to cry. "Stop it, stop it, stop it!"

Ino and Sasori pause to stare at her.

"Don't talk to him like that! Ever!" Sakura yells at Ino so loud that everyone walking past their table just about freezes.

No one is more shocked than Ino though; never in their lives has Sakura questioned Ino, ever. When they were children, Ino would be the one yelling and Sakura would be the one crying, but now there is a temper in Sakura's voice that says 'I won't take no crap'.

"Don't talk to him like that, you don't know anything about him." Sakura puts her hand on Sasori's shoulder, he can feel her shaking. "If you're going to talk to him like that...than I don't want you around him."

"W-Well that's fine by me!" Ino stutters.

"And if you're not around him, you're not around _me_."

Those blue eyes widen so much it's almost cartoonish, Ino is so flabbergasted. Hinata is almost as shocked, but she's far too quiet to even think right now. In fact, her near-white eyes look about to cry, and Ino for once has nothing to say.

Sakura does though, her voice has been silent for so long that she can't hold back anymore.

"Come on, we're leaving."

She turns and stomps off so fast Sasori is stumbling out of his seat to follow, but Sakura doesn't look back. Sasori stuck up for her and she damn well will stick up for him; she won't stay quiet and watch someone rip on her boyfriend like that, not when he's so important to her.

Sasori catches her hand, stopping her on the stairway up to the Humanities building. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm sorry," She says softly. Her green eyes look so sad. "I'm so sorry."

And now she looks about to cry!

Sasori puts one arm around her back, pulling her against him. His other hand touches her cheek with the gentleness of a feather, brushing away the tear that falls there. He looks into her eyes closely, completely serious. He caresses her warm face, feeling his heart ache because she's so sad. It's weird - her pain is affecting him so much its giving him pain too.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." He whispers.

His hand drifts to her chin, lifting it. He kisses her so softly, so warmly, it makes her feel ten times better. Fighting with Ino, being the center of all the gossip at school, hiding the truth from her parents; this makes it all worth while, this kiss.

"Come on, lunch isn't over for another ten minutes." His grabs her hand and starts for the art building. "I'll teach you how to draw some stuff now."

And just like that, everything is better. Sasori makes everything better for her.

He is what she needs.

* * *

Shaking a spray can is addicting.

Seriously, the noise alone is very happy making. The little metal ball inside makes a cool sound as it rattles around inside, mixing the paint.

Sakura gives her pink can a good shake then goes back to painting a wooden board. She's been working on painting flowers; Sasori says that every artist paints flowers at some point in their life, but Sakura has a certain knack for it. To get better lines and not splotch the paint, she holds a sheet of paper up to the board before spraying. Her flowers are so delicate and beautiful, just like her signature.

After finishing the field of flowers on her board, she picks it up. Setting it against the edge of the roof to dry. Sakura looks at it and smiles.

"Looks good. Real good." Sasori speaks up.

He goes over and puts his arm around Sakura's waist. He smirks at her. "Your baby is beautiful."

"Our baby." She leans up and kisses him. Sasori smirks at her adorableness. "Without you, I totally wouldn't be good at this."

"True. If you're this good already, soon you'll be ready to paint on the streets."

Hearing that from him, whose talent she admires so much, is the best feeling in the world; and the scariest. Painting on the streets...that's breaking the law. When Sasori does it, she has this pride for him, thinking he's in this completely other zone where no one can touch him. Thinking of herself painting on the streets...it's nerve wrecking.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be with you every step of the way." Sometimes, he just reads her mind.

"Thanks." She smiles at him. "For everything."

She's so cute. So fucking cute. Never has he met someone so utterly adorable.

He leans down and catches her lips, kissing her so hard she blushes but he just can't get enough of her. Sakura is so precious, so delicate and so soft; not like any other girl he knows. His arms wrap around her, capturing her inside his unyielding hold. Sasori isn't sharing her with anyone - she's his little treasure.

He's kissing her so much that tingles start going down her neck, all she can do is hold onto his shoulders and try to keep up. Sasori is obvious a lot more experienced than her because now he's doing things with his tongue that she'd never knew you could do. Cheeks burning hot, breathing coming out in pants, knees shaking - can he hear her heart beating out of her chest right now?

Though he'd rather keep kissing her, she's started leaning against him and her hands are shaking.

Sasori pulls back, looking into her eyes. She's really shaken up. "Are you ok?"

"I'm just..." God this is embarrassing, "I'm just not used to, um..."

"Making out?" He blinks.

Her whole face deepens in color.

"I'm just not...very experienced." Is there a hole to bury herself in nearby?

Just when he thought she couldn't be anymore adorable...

Sasori smirks. He kisses her cheek, nuzzling her neck affectionately. "I like that about you."

He turns her face and kisses her gently, much softer than before. The fire inside her smoothens out. She kisses him back, her warm hands touching his neck carefully.

"I need to get home soon." She says when he pulls back. Sasori groans, slumping against her with his head on her shoulder. Sakura giggles, hugging him and patting his back. "My parents can only buy the 'studying-at-Dei's-house' excuse for so long."

"Than you should just tell them you're with me." He mumbles into her neck.

She becomes so tense Sasori notices right away. He stands straight and looks at her, seeing the unease in her face. He raises an eyebrow in question. "I don't think it's time for that just yet."

He frowns and pulls away from her completely, crossing his arms. "When is the time for that?"

"Just...not now."

Anyone else would totally blow up or give some scolding to her, because not telling her parents about Sasori is a big deal. In fact, she's completely prepared for him to start snapping at her, just like everyone else in her life does when she messes up. Her heart stills, waiting for the disappointment.

"Whatever." He shrugs, taking her hand.

"W-Whatever?" She blinks.

"Yeah." Sasori stares, unphased. "Come on, I'll take you home."

They go down the stairwell from the roof, leaving her painting behind to dry. Sasori doesn't say anything else about her parents or her friends or anything for the whole way back home, which is greatly appreciated. Sometimes, she forgets how easygoing he is. Seriously, he always knows the right thing to say at the right time. She holds his hand the whole way and wonders how she got so lucky, finding someone who understands her so well.

It's been a week since they first kissed and already it feels like they know everything about each other. Neither of them has ever been in a relationship before, but this is working out so well. If they're already this close after only a week, what's it going to be like in a month? A year?

"Dei and I are going painting tonight, do you wanna come?" Sasori asks when they get on the subway.

"Of course, what are you painting?"

He pulls out his cell phone and flicks through some images. Each one shows a canvas with these really cool, really lifelike, really awesome paintings. The lines are so straight, it almost looks like sketches and drawings. Sakura stares at them in amazement.

"How did you make those?!"

"I used *stencils."

"Ooooh, they're really good."

"Yeah, I'm totally the next *Banksy."

"Who?" Sakura stares.

Sasori laughs a little. "Don't worry about it."

She looks at him, thinking about random stuff. "Sasori, what do you wanna do when you're older?"

"Spray paint." He says right away. "I'm going to spray paint for the rest of my life."

"Well, yeah, but what career do you want?"

He takes more time to answer this question. Before he answers, he blushes and shoots her a look. "Don't laugh."

"I promise." She's totally prepared to laugh.

"I...want to be a teacher. An art teacher." Admittedly, she's tempted to laugh. Sasori? A teacher? That's hilarious. He can't get along with people his own age let alone people younger than him.

"O-Oh? Why?" She asks, holding back her giggles.

"I want to help people appreciate art. These days, kids are obsessed with technology and that stuff is cool but you can't create with it. Everyday, I feel like art is getting less and less important." As he speaks, she feels like his heart is being shown. Sasori couldn't care less about people, but art is very important to him. "I don't want to see the end of art..."

A new admiration building inside of her, because Sakura wishes she had something that she loved as much as Sasori loves art.

"What are you going to do with your life?" Sasori looks at her.

"Oh, well, I'm going to be a doctor."

He looks at her in question. "Is that what you want or what your parents want?"

"Both." It's true. "I know its hard work but I really want to help people. To be able to save lives is very honest work. It would be nice to stay and paint all day, but I don't feel like I'm helping anyone by just doing what I want. I want to help people.

"My parents just care about the money, but I care about the people."

"I can respect that," Sasori holds her hand and looks serious all of a sudden, "But don't lose yourself in your work, ok?"

Sakura smiles, leaning on his shoulder. "I won't lose myself with you around to keep me in check."

Sasori softens. He kisses the top of her head.

* * *

Her parents are still at work so Sasori gets to walk Sakura all the way up to her doorstep this time, all teen romance style. "I'll pick you up later."

"Alright." Sakura smiles.

When they get to the door, Sasori takes her hand and leans down to-

The door opens.

They both look up.

Oh shit.

"S-SAKURA?!"

"M-M-M-Mother?!" Sakura's eyes are as wide as plates. "What are you doing home?!"

By the look of Mother's pajamas, her sniffling nose and pale face it's clear she's taken a sick day.

"Who is this?!" Mother shrieks, pointing at Sasori accusingly.

"Uh he-"

"What do you think you were doing?!"

"W-We were um-"

"GET IN THE HOUSE! NOW!" Mother screams so loud the neighbors in their front yards look over. Mother points straight inside, her green eyes practically aflame.

Sakura looks at the ground and walks inside.

Sasori turns to leave-

"Where do you think you're going young man? IN THE HOUSE!" Mother actually grabs the back of Sasori's shirt and pulls him straight inside. She points both of the teens towards the living room.

They go in and sit on the couch.

Mother shuts the front door and locks it tight. This is going to be bad.

Oh god, what if Mother makes Sakura rewrite the dictionary again?! Shit, shit, shit! This is worse than the time she caught Sakura writing a love letter to that American transfer student in the fourth grade! Might as well start digging her grave now.

Mother comes into the living room and sits on the couch, crossing her arms. Here it comes...

"So, who is he?" Mother asks, narrowing her cold eyes.

"Sasori." Sakura answers nervously.

"Who _is _he?" Mother's eyes harden.

"He's...my boyfriend." Sakura slumps in her seat.

"Oh?" There's a pause. Then Mother points accusingly. "He's the one you've been going out to see lately, isn't he?!"

Sakura looks away in guilt.

"So...you weren't doing schoolwork. You were slacking off with this boy?"

"But-"

"You lied to me and your father, then?"

Oh there's no use fighting back. Mother is the queen of arguments and debates. At this point, you just have to submit and hope she doesn't chop your head off. "I'm sorry..."

"And you, who are you?" Mother looks at Sasori, making him jump out of his skin. "How old are you?"

Sasori swallows. "18..."

"A year older than Sakura, a senior I assume?" Mother crosses her legs and faces him, looking every bit like those celebrity interviewers on the TV. "...What are you good at? Any sports?"

"No. I paint."

"An artist?" Mother's face sours at this. "What's your grade point average?"

Oh shit, this one answer could have Sasori thrown out of the house and Sakura rewriting the dictionary in two seconds. Screwed, there screwed! Goodbye romantic life! Goodbye social life in general!

"4.0."

"Whut." Sakura derps.

"What?!" Mother gapes.

"4.0." Sasori repeats.

Sakura and Mother narrow their green eyes at him.

"My dad requires me to have good grades to live alone." Sasori shrugs.

"O-Oh, you live alone then?" Mother is clearly calmer than before. Nothing makes her happier than a good grade point average. "What does your father do?"

"I live with a roommate actually." Sasori explains. "My dad's a lawyer."

Sakura's jaw drops.

"What?" Sasori looks at her.

"I don't even know who you are anymore!" Sakura throws her hands up in defeat.

Mother clears her throat, drawing their attention. They both look at her, waiting for the verdict. Sasori will admit it, Sakura's mom is super scary - but nothing is going to keep him away from Sakura! Nothing! No matter what happens he'll always-

"I don't see why you can't be together."

Oh, well, scratch that.

"R-Really?!" Sakura's eyes widen.

"Yes, really."

"Oh thank you mother, thank you, thank you, thank-"

"But you can't go out until Sakura has finished rewriting the dictionary."

"..."

"..."

"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sakura drops to her knees, near crying. "The paper cuts! Oooh the paper cuts!"

"None of that young lady, go get started." Mother waves her off. "I'll bring the Band-Aids up later."

Sakura sulks off, completely deflated.

Mother looks at Sasori now. "I'll walk you out."

They get up and go to the door. Sasori steps out and is about to leave but turns, looks at Mother and gives a small bow. "Thank you, for letting me see your daughter."

"No need to thank me," Mother says dismissively, "The only reason I'm allowing this relationship is because I'm 100% sure you two won't last that long. You're just practice for my future son-in-law."

What?

Sasori thinks he might've heard wrong but the look on Mother's face confirms it. He frowns, completely surprised. This woman is so mean, so hard and cold; nothing like Sakura. He seriously prays that Sakura never turns out like this stone hearted woman.

"Have a nice day." Mother shuts the door.

(End)

*Stencils: A thin sheet of plastic, paper, cardboard or metal that has patterns/designs/letters cut out of it. You hold the stencil against another surface then spray paint the cut out area. When you pull the stencil away from the surface, the design will be there. People use them to create more life like images, because the lines are cleaner and you can put in more details.

*Banksy: A famous street artist from England who has done work all around Europe, America and parts of Jamaica (as far as I know). He mostly does stencils but he also works with sculpture, different interpretations of previously made work and live media. If you're a street artist, you know his name. Banksy is so famous, he's had galleries all over the place. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are some of his more famous fans. His work is sold for millions. Here's one of his most famous pieces: wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Bethlehem_Wall_Graffiti_

Banksy is most famous because of his use of irony and cunning imagery.

He's very good and his work is very original.


	6. Color

A lot of story arcs and drama is about to start in this chapter. Well, not really drama. Like the set up for future drama.

I really like this chapter because there are a lot more characters in this chapter, not just Sasori, Sakura and Deidara.

Your reviews make me very happy and I'm glad no one is bashing my knowledge of street art or lack thereof.

Also, let it be known that Sakura may be the only character I star in my Naruto stories, but Hinata is my favorite.

* * *

21 paper cuts later, Sakura finally finishes copying the dictionary.

She puts her copy right next to the original before slumping on top of both of them. Her fingers are covered in Band-Aids, she's gone through seven pens and two packs of paper but the deed is done.

Now she can go out with Sasori.

It's Friday so Sakura thinks of rushing straight over to his apartment but she knows that Sasori would want her to spend the night so Sakura packs a bag and plans to tell Mother she's spending the night at Ino's house instead. She takes her bag and her copy of the dictionary then goes downstairs.

"Mother, can I spend the night at Ino's house?" Sakura asks.

"Did you finish your dictionary?" Mother looks up from her tea.

Sakura puts the thick stack of handwritten papers down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Mother flips through each page, not missing one, so her intelligent eyes can examine each word and check the spelling. Mother used to be a teacher at a Medical school, so she has a very keen eye for grammar and spelling. After about fifteen minutes of paging through, Mother puts the papers down and picks her tea back up.

"Be sure to pack your toothbrush."

"Yes, ma'am." Sakura smiles.

It's the first time she's gone on the subway without Sasori but she doesn't feel as nervous as she would two weeks ago. Amazing, Sakura can't even remember herself before Sasori; back when she was scared of life and let others tell her what to do. Now she feels so alive.

She's been to Sasori's apartment just about every day since they started going out, of course without Mother knowing. She has the road to the apartment memorized in her head so hard she could probably get there blindfolded.

"Sakura! Hey!" Deidara opens the front door.

"Hi Dei, is Sasori home?" Sakura asks.

"He actually went to the store but he'll be back soon, come on in."

"Alright. What...What are you doing?" Sakura looks at him in question.

Deidara's arms are covered in a thick brown mush, his shirt is splattered with the same brown gunk and his hair is tied back. She goes in and looks around, seeing a tall grouping of clay sitting on the kitchen table. There's a bowl of water next to it and a towel thrown over the chair.

"I'm creating art!" Deidara grins, going back to his work.

"Oh." Sakura sits at the table, far from the clay so she won't get splattered on.

Deidara wets his hands in the bowl before rubbing at the clay clump on the table. He's obviously making another bird, as the body has wings. Right now he's trying to fix the head of the bird, stretching out a piece in front for the beak.

"Sakura, I never got to say how happy I am that you and Sasori are together." Deidara says.

"Oh?" Sakura blinks.

"Yeah. He's totally happier with you." Deidara steps back and looks at the clay. He rubs his chin in thought, leaving a streak of brown on his face. "He's more open now...There's more emotion, more heart...and his art is so much better now!"

"Oh!" Sakura smiles.

"Mm, I'm glad he's so happy." Deidara smiles, using a tool to shape in some feathers on the bird.

There's a long pause. She watches Deidara work for a long time. The clay bird comes more and more alive as Deidara gets messier and messier. By the end, his whole shirt is covered in brown and his face looks like a giraffe; all covered in clay spots. Sakura stays super clean though, sitting away from the table.

God this is boring.

And what do girls do when they're bored?

Talk about relationships.

"Soooo Deidara, got any ladies in your life?" Sakura asks, smiling innocently.

"Nah."

"Why not?" Sakura pouts.

"Girls take away from my art," He explains mater-a-factly, "They always want to go out, to be entertained, and to do...stuff that isn't art! I don't need those distractions."

"But...don't you get lonely?" Sakura asks.

Deidara stops, his hands pressed to one of the clay bird's winds. He looks at Sakura, totally caught off guard. Lonely? Well...he has Sasori to keep him company! But Sasori is with Sakura a lot now-a-days...But he isn't lonely!

Or...well...maybe he is?

"Am I interrupting?" Sasori comes into the kitchen.

"Sasori!" Sakura's whole face lights up.

She gets up and goes to him; they collide in a hug of affectionate love that's almost gross. He smirks his happy smirk, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a little spin. Sakura giggles and holds onto him, blinking her eyes in that adorable way that he loves.

Deidara watches them. Why doesn't anyone make adorable eyes at him?

"Your art has gotten so good," Sasori says to her, "I want to take you out painting tomorrow night."

"Really?!" Her eyes get so big.

Sasori nods, giving her a peck on the lips. "I'm so proud of you, babe."

"Alright, it's a date." She giggles.

"Mm, but we have to go get some more paint cans. I ran out of that pink you like so much."

"Can we go to this store I saw in the mall?"

"I guess."

Sakura grabs his hand and tugs him out the kitchen then out the apartment all together, off they go on another love escapade. Deidara watches them leave, suddenly feeling very, very alone.

"They didn't even say goodbye!" Deidara puffs up his cheeks.

* * *

Sakura excitedly leads Sasori into the art shop, right away looking around for her new friend. Sure enough, Konan is sitting behind the counter looking more than bored. When her sharp blue eyes spot Sakura, the only emotion she shows is the lifting of her brows but that's more than enough of a reaction from Konan to know she's happy to see the pink lady.

"Konan!" Sakura brightens.

She goes around the counter and hugs Konan affectionately. Konan pats her on the back but still isn't used to 'hugs'.

"Hey, you didn't call me back last night." Konan looks up at the only guy in the room. "Sasori? What're you doing here?"

"You two know each other?" Sakura asks, looking between the two.

"Yeah." Sasori shrugs. "When will you learn, all artists know each other."

"How do you know him?" Konan asks her.

"He's my boyfriend." Sakura blushes.

"What? He's the one you're always talking about?" Konan blinks. "He's not nearly as amazing as you make him say."

Sasori frowns at this. He goes to Sakura and puts an arm around her. He hasn't seen Konan in a good long time; last he heard she was heading off to bigger cities to perfect her art. They used to be in a bigger group of friends together, but the group broke up; the only one Sasori hangs out with from that group still is Deidara. It's strange that Konan is back so out of the blue, maybe the others are back too?

"We came to buy some spray paint." Sakura says in excitement. "Sasori is taking me painting tonight!"

"Oh? You're going to paint too?" Konan asks.

"Yep!"

"May I come along?" Konan asks them. She looks at Sasori. "It might be nice to...catch up on some things."

Sakura's whole face lights up. She looks at Sasori with big eyes. He stares at her. "I don't care."

Sakura smiles, turning to Konan and grabbing her hands. "Pretty please come!"

The smallest of smiles comes to Konan's face. "You're way too sweet for this life."

Not really understanding, Sakura just smiles happily.

That night, Sasori sneaks her out of her house and takes her to the deepest parts of the city. He doesn't want there to be any trouble what with the cops and thugs going around, the deeper you go in the streets the less people there are. There's a nice little spot under the bridge at the corner of Union and Broadway that's perfect for her. They get there close to midnight, but Konan is already there. She has a camera in hand, going around taking snap shots of all the other paintings there.

"You're late." She says to them.

"You're just early." Sasori rolls his eyes at her.

He takes his backpack off, giving it to Sakura. She takes it and goes to the nearest pillar under the bridge, opening the backpack and taking out the spray cans inside. She puts them on the ground and looks at the clean wall, just waiting to be covered in her art.

"What will you paint?" Sasori asks.

"My flowers." Sakura decides, as those are what she's best at painting.

"Sounds perfect." Sasori smiles, brushing his hand through her hair.

She pins her hair back and grabs a pink can, getting ready to work. She takes a breath, a nervous chill going down her spine. Today, she officially enters the same world as Sasori; a world of art and adventure, where you do what you want and push yourself to new heights. Never has she ever done anything like this, in her life, and never would she have ever thought of doing anything like this, in her life.

A lot of people wouldn't think this is a big deal. To Sakura, once she crosses this line there's no coming back.

Shaking the can the tiny metal ball inside rattling confidently, the paint mixes to a calm warmth, the wall looks back at her expectantly; everything is ready. But is she?

Can she really paint this wall? Defile this pillar for the world to see, where drivers will pass by and know her work. No one will know it was her, but they will see this art and an impression will be made.

Some people will love her work; look at it with appreciation and envy. Others will hate it, be disgusted by this level of vandalism. Her own friends, Ino and Hinata, would look at this work and be appalled. Even Naruto, who doesn't have a care in the world and breaks enough rules by himself, wouldn't look well upon her public defacing.

"Sakura," Sasori comes up next to her, "Are you ok?"

"Y-Yes! I mean, totally. Why wouldn't I be?" A fake smile comes to her face.

Sasori is not fooled. He outs a hand on the back of her neck, rubbing his thumb on her soft skin. His other hand touches the blank pillar wall in front of her. "Ya know, what other people think doesn't matter. As long as you're doing what makes you happy, it's ok."

Sakura's smile softens. "Thanks."

Sasori kisses her lips before stepping away.

The wall looks at her, waiting. Taking a spray can, giving it another shake, Sakura gets to work.

She paints and paints and paints. At first, she thought her flowers would just be small and in one spot, but soon they spread across the whole pillar, going around the base and up the length. The flowers look so cute and delicate, looking so out of place in this huge messy city but so bright, like a beacon in the middle of the chaos. Her flowers look almost alive, ready to pop off the wall and take life.

After nearly an hour and a half of painting, Sakura steps back and unpins her hair. Sasori comes next to her, looking at the wall in surprise. "It's amazing."

"Really?" Sakura looks at him.

"Of course."

She stands up straight. Sasori takes her hands and looks at them; there's paint splattered on her fingers, smudges on her palms and the beginnings of rough spots are forming on her tips. Her right hand feels very twitchy, obviously aching from holding the cans of spray paint for so long. He rubs his hands over them, warming them considerably. Their eyes meet. "You're a real street artist now."

A wave of relief washes over her. The deed is done, the line has been crossed, the bird has taken flight; no going back. All or nothing, Sakura feels closer to understanding Sasori that she ever has before. No matter what happens, this moment, this feeling, makes it worthwhile.

A sharp flash draws their attention; Konan is taking pictures of Sakura's painting.

"Very clean. I like it." She says, snapping away.

"Thanks." Sakura blushes.

Konan looks at them. "Do you guys want to go get a drink? I'm meeting up with some friends."

"Friends?" Sasori raises an eyebrow.

"Two. You know one of them." Konan says.

Sasori looks at Sakura, smirking at her. "Why not? We need to celebrate her artistic deflowering."

"Yup, she's no longer an artist virgin." Konan sighs, starting to walk down the street towards the bus stop. "They grow up so fast."

The two continue to tease Sakura, because she's just too adorable not to tease. Watching something cute break the law is so entertaining to them. She lets them have their fun, when it all comes down to it, so far this is the best night ever.

* * *

Konan takes them to a bar.

Sakura learns that Konan is actually 22 years old, making her four years Sakura's senior and three Sasori's. Age doesn't really matter in the artistic world, Sasori says; when you're talented, your work speaks for itself.

The bar is very crowded and dark. Sakura clings to Sasori, holding onto his arm tightly and avoiding all the stares she's attracting; she's the brightest thing in that place, what with her pink hair and adorable clothes. Plus she's so fucking cute; any guy would be a fool not to stare at her bod. Whenever a guy looks to lustfully at her, though, Sasori shoots him a dark fearsome glare, sneering quite menacingly and turning the leering men away instantly. Konan doesn't react to the stares she's getting though, as her cold eyes sharply shoot daggers at any guy who looks at her the wrong way. Sakura realizes, for the first time, her new friends are quite scary! They're tough!

"Here we are." Konan says, stopping in front of a booth in the back.

There are two guys sitting at the table. Konan puts her hand on one of the guys' shoulder. "Sasori, Sakura, this is my boyfriend. Pein. He's a photographer."

Pein, a guy with more metal on his face than Sakura's seen on anyone, looks up at them calmly. "I've heard a lot about you two."

"Nice to meet you." Sakura smiles.

"Hmph." Sasori shrugs, looking away.

"Don't mind him; he just doesn't like people much." Sakura teases, poking his arm.

Konan points to the other guy sitting at the table. "And this is-"

"Itachi!"

Everyone looks at Sakura in surprise.

Her whole face is lit up like a star, she's so happy! It's Itachi!

"Sakura?" Itachi blinks in surprise.

Sakura can't resist, she goes up and wraps her arms around him in a friendly hug. Itachi hugs her back too, shocking their friends even further. Sasori knows Itachi from his old group of friends, how Sakura knows him is beyond a mystery; it's downright flabbergastingly fucked up. Sakura is this bright little fairy-like creature full of smiles and hearts, Itachi is this dark underworld being who looms in the shadows and listens to heavy metal screamo about death: these two are so incompatible that it's totally out of the question for them to ever meet each other on their own.

"How in fuck's name do you know each other?" Sasori asks, looking completely stunned.

Sakura pulls back from the hug, looking at Sasori with a big smile. "He's the brother of one of my exboyfriends."

"I haven't seen Sakura in ages." Itachi says, a gentle smile on his face. He pats her head affectionately.

"Exboyfriend?" Sasori blinks. Sakura…dated…someone else before him?

"Mm, it was a long time ago." Sakura waves it off.

"Well this reunion calls for some drinks." Konan says. She looks at Sakura and Sasori, "As minors, give me your money and your order and I'll get the alcohol."

Alcohol?! Sakura's eyes widen in wonder; she's never…drank before…The idea is strangely tempting. After her street art escapade earlier, she's rather high on rule breaking and feeling quite invincible. What would be the harm in having just one drink or two? Besides, these guys are older than her! She doesn't want to look like some square. Artists drink all the time and she's an artist now!

"None for me." Sasori says. Sakura looks at him in surprise. He leans down to whisper in her ear. "You go ahead, I want to stay sober so I can take care of you."

She looks at him like he's an angel. Seriously, how perfect is Sasori right now?

Sakura gives Konan some money for a drink. "Just get me whatever."

"I know just what to order for our little flower." Konan smirks devilishly. Pein goes with her to get the drinks.

Itachi turns to Sakura. "I'm quite surprised to see you here…and to see your current partner. I would've never paired you two together in my life."

"Sasori makes me very happy." Sakura says, leaning into her boyfriend's side. Sasori smiles on the inside, putting his arm around her shoulder. "We've only been together for three weeks though."

"That is a short time." Itachi nods. "But I am very pleased with this. Sasori will take care of you…unlike certain other men in your past."

Sakura's mood dampens so much, Sasori looks at her in question. There's this haze in her eyes, like she's seeing images from the past. He doesn't like this. A small frown presses on her features, her hands clenching against her knees. "How…How is Sasuke…nowadays?"

Itachi is quiet for some time. His dark eyes that mirror her past lovers' seem to haunt her with understanding but regret. Sakura looks at Itachi, waiting for an answer. "He's getting older, smarter. He's kept more to himself lately…I'm worried for him, he seems very lonely lately."

"Really?" Sakura's lips downturn.

This interests Sasori greatly. Obviously this Sasuke is Sakura's past lover, but they have broken up. Any other broken up girl would regard her ex's pain with happiness, but Sakura actually looks worried over this Sasuke's pain. Sasori becomes very interested in this bit of her history and wonders just what happened between his love and Itachi's brother.

"I'm sure he'll get better." Itachi says with a sigh. "He's very good at taking care of himself."

"Yeah, he is." A tiny smile comes to her face, but there is sadness behind her faked joy.

Sasori rubs her arm gently. He leans down and presses a kiss to her temple, looking deep into her eyes. "Are you ok?"

"I'm…fine." She shakes her head, as if shaking whatever thoughts are inside away. Now she smiles and looks like the real Sakura, back to her happy self. "I'm great actually."

She pecks Sasori's lips, batting her eyelashes playfully. Sasori relaxes, she seems to have calmed for now.

"Alright, liquor all around." Konan says, setting cups on the table.

Sakura looks at her cup. It's a pretty glass with this bright blue liquid inside that seems to sparkle and shine at the same time. Sakura looks at the liquid that swirls around the clear glass flirtatiously, as if daring her to drink it. There's ice at the bottom, swimming around happily. A straw that's too thin to actually drink from sticks out from the cup, salt around the edges of the cold glass.

Konan clanks her own redish-looking drink against Sakura's.

"Bottoms up."

* * *

Deidara walks out of the convenience store at the corner of South Hampton and Jackson.

He drinks from his Snap-Soda, a plastic bag of groceries on his arm. He looks at his soda can for a moment, standing there on the street corner in front of the empty road. The can looks back at him in question.

"I'm not lonely." Deidara fumes, glaring at the can.

The can looks away doubtfully.

"I'm not!" Deidara shouts.

The can rolls its eyes.

"I'm not lonely damn it!"

Deidara pulls his arm back and chucks the can, throwing it far down the street. He watches the can fly through the air, satisfied when the can comes to a crashing death on the sidewalk. Then he notices movement a little ways farther from the can's death spot.

There're two men and a young girl. The men are moving around her in a circular motion, like sharks around a lone fish.

Frowning, Deidara quietly walks closer to the scene.

"I'm n-not interested." The girl mutters, trying to back away.

One of the men stops behind her, and she jumps away from him only to be stopped by the other man. They leer at her darkly, lust evident in their predator eyes.

"Come on, babe, just one drink?" Man one asks. "I'm buyin."

"N-No thank you…"

"Than just one dance?" Man two snickers. "I'll make it worth your while sweetie."

"I um…I have to g-go home now. So please-"

The girl moves to walk around them but the men block her. The girl bumps into them and falls back onto the ground. She shrieks, pushing her skirt down quickly but the men have already caught a peek of what lies underneath.

"Ooooh man, did you see those panties?"

"Gorgeous, just gorgeous."

"And them tits…oh babe."

"They're larger than-"

**_CRASH!_**

Glass scatters everywhere.

Man one falls forward, hitting the ground face first next to the girl. The girl looks up in shock, Deidara has appeared. There is a broken glass bottle in his hand, juice splattered all over the passed out man's back and head along with the glass pieces.

"I was gonne drink that tomorrow," Deidara muses, "But this seems like a better use for it."

"You fucker!" The other man yells.

Deidara points the remaining bottle top at him, sharp edges sticking out like a hundred knives. Deidara smirks as the man cowers. "Get your friend and get lost, asshole."

After a pause, the man grabs his passed out friend and scurries off through the streets until he's no longer seen. Deidara waits a while before dropping the glass from his hands. Hmph, dumb pigs. He looks at the girl on the-

Fuck.

She's _hot_.

Her eyes are big, bright and hidden behind thick black eyelashes. Her hair is long, flowing down her back in a stream of black like a princess from those children's books. Her figure is like that of art, sculpted to perfection. Her curves go on for miles, and those breasts…

Woah. Restrain yourself!

"U-Um…" The girl mumbles.

Deidara realizes she's quite shaken up, there's fear in her eyes. She's hugging himself, looking up at him as if wondering if he'll kill her or not.

"Are you ok?" Deidara bends down to level with her, adopting his charming friendly smile. His blue eyes try to show his pure intentions; he really just wanted to help her. What man would walk away and let those pigs do such horrible things to a girl? It's gross. This girl is so beautiful, like a work of art. Who would defile such a graceful creature, so small and delicate.

"Y-Yes. Thank y-y-you." The girl says.

Then she blushes and Deidara just loses it; she is so damn cute!

"Here." He stands and holds out his hand.

Hesitantly, the girl takes it and Deidara lifts her up. Her skin is so soft…

"What're you doing out this late?" He asks. "It's dangerous for girls to wander the city."

"I…I was at the library." She whispers.

Awwwwww! That is so cute!

Ok, now Deidara totally understands what Sasori is always saying; the cute girls are definitely the best ones! Just look at this chick! She's so damn precious but so fucking hot at the same time, a dangerous combination.

"W-Well…why don't I walk you home? Or at least to the bus stop." Deidara offers, grinning at her. "Unless you want me to jump in and save you again; I totally will."

The girl's eyes widen at him. That grin…it reminds her of someone else, someone she's very fond of.

"Alright. T-Thank you." She smiles at him and he swears his heart is flying all around his chest.

"Lead the way, sweetheart." He smiles at her. They start to walk down the street, a peaceful air forming between them. "I'm Deidara by the way."

She looks at him with a gentle, soft smile.

"I'm Hinata."

* * *

The sky is soooo dark….

Sakura stares straight up, looking at every star that dances in her eyes. One arm is thrown over Sasori's shoulder, the other holding onto his arm for balance as her feet refuse to walk in a straight line. Sasori has one arm around her waist and he's carefully walking her up the stairs to his apartment, but the stairs are battling Sakura's drunken feet and winning.

"It's coooold~" Sakura moans, the air chilling her. "W-Why aren't your stairs, like, inside. Other apartments are like that…"

"I have no idea." Sasori sighs.

"My feet huuuuuuuuurt." Sakura grumbles, pouting like a child.

For the love of-

Sasori stops, turns and picks Sakura straight off her feet. Sakura lets out a happy "Weeee!" as he lifts her, holding her carefully in his arms. She kicks her feet in joy, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling up to him. Oh how could he be annoyed with her? She's so cute when she's drunk…

Kicking the door open, Sasori walks inside and straight for his bedroom.

"Oooh naughty, nau-naughty!" Sakura giggles loudly, blushing. "Sasori we can't do it here! D-Dei…Deidara! Deidara might see!"

Ignoring her, Sasori goes to the bed.

He drops Sakura onto it. She plops down but bounces for a while, which makes her happy. She giggles, bouncing on the bed like a child.

Sasori pushes her on her back, which makes her laugh, then lifts her feet to take off her shoes. He takes off her socks and jacket too. Carefully, totally looking the other direction, Sasori bashfully slips Sakura's tights off. Now she's only in her dress, which should be comfortable enough to sleep in but not too revealing.

"Sasori~ kiss me!" Sakura smiles big.

"It's time for bed." He says, pushing back the blankets.

"Kiss!"

Sighing, Sasori gets on his knees in front of her. Sakura wraps her arms around him, pulling him straight in. At first, the kiss is sloppy and hard but after a moment her lips soften. Sasori kisses her gently, feeling warm inside and regretting nothing.

Something wet touches his cheek.

"A-Are you crying?" Sasori pulls back.

Sure enough, there are heavy tears falling down Sakura's face. Her eyes are shut tight, frowning. Soft little sobs are coming from her chest.

"What's wrong?!" He panics. Sasori puts his hands on her cheeks, trying to brush away the tears that won't stop falling. She cries and cries, getting louder and heavier. After a minute more, Sasori can't take it. He pulls her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Not knowing what to do, he rocks her back and forth. "What's wrong…stop crying….please, please stop crying…"

She tries to hush herself, to make him feel better, but she can't.

"I'm, I'm s-s-so sad…" Sakura cries, holding onto his shoulders so hard. "I'm, I c-c-can't, I-I…"

"Shhh, it's alright." He whispers, trying to calm her. "I'm here. Please, stop crying."

Pulling back slightly, Sakura looks at him through her tearful eyes. She looks straight at him. Sasori looks back patiently, wondering what's about to happen.

"I love you." Sakura whispers.

"W-What…" Sasori stutters.

"I love you," She presses back into him, crying more. She holds him, sobbing into his shoulder. "Save me. Please, save me."

Hesitantly, Sasori wraps his arms back around her. He brushes a hand through her hair, cradling her in his grasp. She's so delicate, so small…so easy to break. She trusts him though. She knows he won't break her.

"Ok." He mumbles.

Wide eyed, Sakura pulls away. She looks at him. "Promise."

"I promise." He says seriously.

Then he pushes her down onto the bed, tucks her in under the pillows and blankets. She cries some more and begs him to stay with her, so he gets into bed next to her. Sakura snuggles up to him, holding onto him and leaning her head against his chest; listening to his heart. Sasori holds her tight, shielding her from the world. Soon, her sobs soften and she falls asleep but Sasori stays awake for some time. He thinks about everything that's happened, he thinks mostly about Sakura and how precious she is to him. He thinks about what could be causing her so much pain. He thinks about his promise. He thinks about what she just said, about loving him.

No one's ever said they loved him like that…

"I promise..." He whispers, kissing her sleeping lips. "I…love you."

(End)

Hunger Games Moment!

So it's official; Sam Claflin is going to play Finnick.

SQUEAL! Finnick! 3

Finnick is my most favorite book character, ever. He's so amazingly hilarious but adorable and strong! I hate Peeta, just sayin. Anyway, Sam Claflin is the guy from the Snow White movie with (stupid) Kristin Stewart. I never saw that movie cause I hate Kristin Stewart cause she can't act, so I had no idea who he was. When I found out he's gonna play Finnick I totally Google-Stalked him and decided he's pretty decent.

When I saw the E.W. picture of him dressed as Finnick I just about died; he looks perfect! My only thought, though, is that he's British. I LOVE British accents, but...Finnick isn't British...or at least, there's never been any hints that he is. I guess, since there's no distinction between him being British or not British in the book it would be ok for him to be British but, well, I never pictured him British. If anything, I pictured him Irish what with the orange hair and sea green eyes.

Anyway, totally can't wait for Catching Fire to come out on November 22nd. Already planning who I'm going with to the premier.


	7. Poster

I started cooking recently.

I realized, in just seven months I'll be living on my own. I won't have anyone to cook for me!

So I bought a cook book and started cooking recipes from it. The other day I made Caraway Pot Roast with Apple Cider, it was very good. I love cooking.

I watch a lot of cooking shows. I don't watch TV often but when I do, I watch the Food Network. Usually the cake shows are my favorite, but I'll watch the ones about cooking dinners and stuff. I like all the competition shows though, they're the best.

Tomorrow I'm gonna make a pasta for my friends. I'm also gonna make fish with mushrooms too.

I have bad insomnia, inherited it from my mother. I think though, it helps with the updating because when I can't sleep I write, and I can't sleep a lot of the time.

* * *

Sunday morning, Sakura wakes up with the biggest headache of her life.

She sits up, rubbing her forehead and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Realizing she's in Sasori's bed, Sakura relaxes. Sasori wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. She realizes she's not wearing her leggings from last night though, so…Sasori undressed her? W-Well, he was probably just trying to make her comfortable! Yeah! Sasori wouldn't do anything weird while she's asleep…

Looking next to her, Sasori is sleeping in the bed.

"W-What?!" She flips out.

No leggings, he undressed her, now he's in bed with her?! Did…Did they do _something_ last night?

Crossing her arms, Sakura tries with all her might to remember but that only gives her a bigger headache.

"Are you ok?"

Looking down, Sasori has his eyes open lazily. He looks at her in question.

"U-Uh…D-Did anything weird happen last night?"

There's a pause. She can tell by the look on his face something totally happened, but Sasori isn't one to say anything useless so he just shrugs and sits up. She trusts Sasori so she knows that if something bad happened he would tell her about it. Pushing back the sheets, he reaches out and drags a hand through her long hair. Sakura leans into his touch, relaxing. "How's your head? You drank a lot last night…"

"It hurts a little." She mumbles.

"I'll make you some coffee and breakfast."

He gets up and leaves the room. After a moment, Sakura gets up and goes after him. In the kitchen, Sasori looks around but doesn't really have a clue what to make. Usually Deidara does the cooking…where is Deidara anyway? It's barely noon, usually the blonde doesn't get up little late evening on the weekends.

Sakura smiles, "Why don't I cook?"

Sasori sighs, sitting at the table. Sakura goes into the fridge and gets some food out, turning on the stove. She starts cooking; Sasori watches her teeter around the kitchen. He stares at her. "Sakura…are you sad?"

"Sad?" She stops, looking at him.

"Is something…upsetting you?"

She hesitates, "Not that I can think of."

"If there was something upsetting you, you'd tell me right?"

Sasori stares at her evenly, trying to read her mind. Sakura's eyes don't give anything away, but he can't forget how she cried on his shoulder last night. She was so sad, so torn; something has to be wrong. Maybe it's something even she doesn't know is wrong, something her subconscious is saying. What could be wrong though?

"Of course I'd tell you." Sakura smiles but her eyes show no emotion.

Sasori nods, dismissing this for now. "Alright."

* * *

Itachi walks into the kitchen late that morning.

He grabs a plate with some food and a cup, going to the table. When he sits down his head gives an unhappy thump, he drank too much last night. Usually he doesn't drink so much but it was a special occasion, seeing Sasori and Sakura and all. He gives a little groan, pouring a hot cup of tea to drown away his headache.

"Hangover?"

He looks up at his tablemate. "Good morning Sasuke."

Itachi's younger brother, who looks every bit like he did five years ago, has hard eyes. Sasuke is not the king little boy Itachi once spent so much time with; now-a-days he seems cold and empty, something is missing inside. Sasuke is searching for something, with those eyes, something to fulfill him. Itachi wonders what that something is…

"Your _friends_ are ruining you." Sasuke says, narrowing his eyes.

"How are you this morning?"

Sasuke sighs, looking away. He brings his tea up to his mouth, drinking slowly. "Why you spend time with those criminals is beyond me. They're just a waste of talent and time."

There's a long air of silence and tension.

Itachi smirks. "Usually I would say you can't judge my friends when you don't even know them…but you do know them…"

Sasuke frowns. "What do you mean?"

"…Have you spoken to Sakura lately?"

This throws Sasuke completely off, which entertains Itachi greatly. His little brother likes to talk a lot of smack, but there is a lot he doesn't know about. Sometimes, Itachi wonders how he's going to teach Sasuke to grow up when his little brother is so concerned with being right all the time. People who think they're always right are usually the people who've got to grow the most. Sometimes Itachi thinks that nothing he says will change Sasuke's ways; Sasuke will have to grow through pain, Itachi knows. Some people are like that; they only learn through bad experiences.

"Sakura?" Sasuke glares. "What does she have to do with anything?"

Itachi closes his eyes, pouring hot tea down his throat. "She's a street artist now."

There's a loud clutter as Sasuke stands abruptly, slamming his tea cup on the table. "Sakura? A…A street artist?!"

* * *

The lights flicker a little.

Sasori moves the projector a few times before giving the nasty little crap tool a good smack on the side, making the light come to life and flash through, projecting the image on the white wall opposite it. The image is of a giant rose and it comes up against a huge white paper hung up on the wall. Sakura takes out a fat red marker, pulls up a little stool and goes to work on tracing the intricate rose.

"Will you ever stop doing flowers?" Sasori asked, leaning on the projector.

"Probably not," She answers, "I like them. Flowers make the world prettier, and who doesn't like to see flowers?"

"…You're just compensating for your crimes."

"No denying that. If I'm gonna vandalize, at least I'm vandalizing nicely."

He smirks and watches her work on her poster.

"When do you want to put it up?" He asks. "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I wanted to put it closer to the school. So I can see it when I walk there every day."

"Kay, I'll get the materials for the glue."

He went over and sat on the couch they'd pushed out of the way to set up for the Poster Making (1). He's about to doze off and let Sakura work in piec-

WAM!

Deidara kicks the door open and rushes inside.

Sasori's eyes shoot open and Sakura falls from the stool, the marker flying out of her hand to unknown whereabouts. They both shoot Deidara accusing glares.

"Guys I am _freaking_ out!" Obvious of their pain, Deidara paces the room. "Shit, shit, _shit_."

"What's wrong?" Sakura asks, getting up from the ground.

"I got a girl's phone number!" Deidara panics.

"That's great!" Sakura brightens.

"Not great! Not great!" The blond paces some more, clutching a thin piece of paper in his hands nervously. He fiddles with it, rubbing it to a crinkle. His eyes are wide with worry, his body fidgeting as he quickly walks back and forth.

Sakura looks at Sasori in question; he sighs and goes to his friend. "Soooo what's the problem?"

"Danna!" Deidara grabs Sasori's shoulders sharply, making the shorter male jump back in surprise. "I donno what to do! What should I say to her? S-Should I, ya know…"

"…Ask her out?"

"NO! I can't do t-that!" Deidara pushes Sasori away like a rag doll, forcing him to tumble back into Sakura. They both clutter to the couch in a tangled mess, watching Deidara have his panic attack. "She said t-to call her if I wanted to, well, talk. Or whatever. Girls don't call you to talk if they want to go out with you! Shit, what do I say?!"

Sakura looks at Sasori who's trying to untangle himself from her legs that are somehow caught in his arms. "Hasn't he ever talked to a girl before?"

"Hm? No."

"No?!"

"No." Sasori pulls away triumphantly, sitting back on the couch. "Deidara's never been close with girls. He's always too busy with art. Hell, if I wasn't into art too I probably wouldn't be so close with him."

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Deidara points an accusing finger at Sakura. "If you hadn't called me lonely I wouldn't be in this mess! It's your fault! You fix it!"

Both the boys look at her expectantly.

"O-Oh. Ok."

She gets up and takes the slip of paper from Deidara's hand. Reaching into his jacket pocket, Sakura pulls out Deidara's cell and starts typing in the number. As she pushes the keys she can't help feeling like she's seen this number before…and the little digits on the paper are written in a rather familiar script…hmm…

"It's ringing." She says. "Here!"

Before he can protest, Sakura shoves the phone up against Deidara's ear.

Flipping out, Deidara holds it against his head and listens…

"_Hello_?"

_SHIT._

_"Um, Hello? Is anyone ther-"_

"GAAAAH!" Deidara throws the cell phone at the wall. Then he sufficiently spasms and runs into his bedroom, slamming the door so hard Sakura's poster paper falls off the wall.

Sasori and Sakura exchange looks.

"Is he gonna be ok?" She asks.

Sasori shrugs. "Probably not."

Today Sakura offers to go home by herself so Sasori can try to coerce Deidara out of his room long enough to get the blond sane again. After a quick –not so quick- kiss that gives her those happy tingles in her stomach because Sasori is just too good of a kisser, Sakura heads down the staircase of the apartment building. On the way down, she contemplates Sasori's good-kissing-ness.

Sasori is obviously, without a doubt, much more experienced that she is.

After all, he's been trudging the streets with spray cans and hanging out with people four years older than him; of course he's experienced. Though, she knows he's never been serious about a girl before. She remembers him saying that he'd never had a girlfriend, and in that retrospect Sakura is at least a little bit more experienced in relationships. She's had two boyfriends but she'll go to her grave denying that the short term fling with Naruto during the summer before freshman year was absolutely nothing but a complete relapse of judgment and no Naruto was not a good kisser or even a mildly good anything.

Sasuke was…different…but she quickly gets any thoughts of him to the back of her head. Don't want to be the crazy-lady-crying-on-the-subway today.

Sasori is far better than both of them though, or any other crush/fling/date/suitor she's ever had or thought of before. He's just so much more mature, and patient and confident. There really isn't anything Sakura would change about him, minus the fact that he won't let her organize his bedroom ("Its fine the way it is." "Is that…mold…growing on your rug?" "…It's fine.")

When she gets home, she's too busy thinking about Sasori to notice the car that doesn't belong to either of her parents parked in the driveway.

She's also too busy thinking about Sasori to notice a male jacket that doesn't belong to her father on the coat rack.

…Or the extra set of keys on the key hanger…

...Who the hell is talking to her mother in the kitchen?

Going towards the voices, a deeeeeeep pit is forming in her stomach because as Sakura gets closer, the voice sounds more and more familiar…oh god, thoughts are coming back, she's remembering!

It can't be.

Pause…Listen…

It _is_.

Oh no, oh please no; crap, the tears are starting to build!

"Sakura there you are dear!" Mother's face has that look it only gets when _he's _around.

Mother goes up to Sakura, puts a hand gently on her shoulder and directs her towards the kitchen. Sure enough, when they get there, Sakura sees him sitting at the counter next to Father. Father is doing that happy-approving nod of his head and when he sees Sakura enter Father gets up. "There she is! Sakura you have a visitor!"

Swallow…Breathe…Do _not_ cry.

"H-Hello…Sasuke." She manages to mumble.

Sasuke Uchiha.

It's been at least two years since she's been in the same room as him, but he looks just the same as that night he broke her heart; same downturned frown, nose in the air, cold eyes and everything. Even his clothes are as aloof as they were those years ago, dark in color and crisply ironed. His eyes…those eyes that she can never forget, look at her sharply. They look at her, study her and see right through her.

Sasori sees through her too. Just like Sasuke. But Sasuke never liked what he saw in Sakura. Ever.

_Don't cry!_ Sakura thinks, blinking rapidly to dry her eyes.

"Sakura, it's been a while." Sasuke gets up.

He's taller, his hair is a little longer.

Realizing he's waiting for her to reply, Sakura speaks up. "Yeah, a few years…I think."

"Sasuke just came by to see you!" Mother has that high pitched voice she gets when she's super excited about something.

"He did?" Sakura blinks.

"I did." Sasuke moves over to her and as he draws closer Sakura can't help but shrink; he's always had this way of making her feel so much smaller. "I came to ask if you would join me for dinner tonight."

If this was just a month ago, Sakura would be jumping for joy! But after everything that's happened, what with Sasori opening her eyes to how she can stand on her own feet…all she can think about is what Sasuke did to her, what he said to her, so long ago. For some reason, Sakura has become more temperamental since gaining more control over her life. Nothing would make her happier than yelling and screaming at him, and slapping him for hurting her so much! But…she would never do it. Sasuke, no matter what he's done, has always been her first love. Still…

"I don't think-"

"Sakura can I have a word with you?"

Not even waiting for an answer, Mother pulls Sakura out of the room. She takes Sakura under the stairway, keeping a firm hold on her arm. Mother's eyes narrow darkly, her mood completely flipping. "What do you think you're doing? Sasuke came all the way here to take you out and you're just going to selfishly refuse?"

"But…Sasori wouldn't be happy about it." Even if it was an innocent dinner, it would still be wrong.

"It's just out of good manners." Mother insists. "Any man would understand."

"Well…why don't I just give Sasori a call and-"

"You can tell him afterwards!" Mother nods, agreeing with herself. "It's not wrong as long as you tell him later."

Sakura should know already that arguing with Mother is futile, especially since she's already been nodding to herself.

With a large sigh, Sakura agrees.

And that's how she ended up going to dinner with the first guy to ever break her heart.

Of course Sasuke takes her to a super fancy restaurant for their spontaneous dinner. It's really uncomfortable there and Sakura wishes she'd dressed up first. Weird, she's so out of place here. Guess she's just used to eating Deidara's cooking and the fast food her and Sasori get after their painting adventures. Everyone at the restaurant is really prissy, with their noses in the air. Sasuke fits right in.

After pulling out Sakura's chair for her, Sasuke goes to sit across from her.

They're quiet for a long time. He doesn't look at her or really acknowledge her, and Sakura doesn't know what to say so she keeps silent. After their food comes, he speaks up.

"So, my brother has told me some interesting news."

"What?" Sakura blinks.

"He tells me you're going out and vandalizing walls at night," Sasuke's eyes narrow, "With your _boyfriend_."

That _snitch_! Stupid Itachi!

Oh crap, oh crap; Sasuke knows! Of all the people who could possibly know, Sasuke is the worst person! If there's anyone who respects the law it's Sasuke! Plus, _oh god_, plus he could tell Mother!

This horrible thought scares her into a stupor, leaving Sakura babbling.

"I, braaa, you and- and- what I mean is…but there was….uhhhhh-"Sakura fiddles her fingers.

Sasuke crosses his arms. "I can't believe you would let that criminal trick you into committing crimes. Of all the people in the world, I honestly thought you would have enough sense to never do such illegal things."

"But, you don't understand. It's…I like to paint."

"And a canvas isn't good enough for you?" Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Paper too simple?"

"What? No! I use that stuff too-"

"This is all that boy's fault."

"It is not-"

"I insist you leave him; he's obviously a bad influence on you."

"What?!" Sakura gapes at him. "No! I'm not leaving him."

"Sakura, be sensible. Think about your future. What would happen if you were arrested?"

Now Sakura rolls her eyes. "That's why you don't get caught."

"Oh god, now you're talking like a criminal!" Sasuke looks at her like she's crazy. He leans close, speaking in a hushed tone. "Sakura, you have to stop this. You're ruining your life. If you don't leave that vandal, I'll be forced to take this situation into my own hands."

_What_?

"Why do you even care?!" Sakura nearly yells, surprising everyone at the restaurant.

Sasuke pauses, shocked. He sits back and stares at her. "Of course I care."

"But why?" Sakura frowns at him.

He's rather baffled by this. Why? Sakura never used to question him like this! She's changed; she's not that innocent little girl he used to know. The girl who thought he was the smartest, wisest guy around. The girl he could control.

When he doesn't answer, Sakura gets up. "I'm leaving."

"I'm your ride home."

"I can manage." Without further ado, Sakura gets up and walks out.

The nerve of that guy! Seriously, has Sasuke always been this much of a stuck up, judgmental jerk?! Why couldn't she see it before?! He is such a jerkface! JERKFACE! How could she not realize that before?

Storming out of the restaurant, Sakura starts home but realizes she should've at least staid to eat; now she's super hungry.

Luckily, when she turns the corner of 5th Ave. and Wreckage Road, there's a Chinese restaurant.

She goes in and gets a table for one, already resolving to buy super fattening comfort food to help her get over the minor crisis that is her life. Shit…she totally walked out on Sasuke…what if he gets so mad and tells Mother about all this? No, no; Sasuke isn't a snitch (unlike stupid Itachi! She's _so_ gonna have a talk with that guy), he's the type of person who would take things into his own hands. He doesn't like to look for help; he likes to solve problems on his own. This is troubling because Sasuke is totally going to try to _save_ her from herself now.

"Here's your food," the waiter says as he sets the plates down, "Kinda late for dinner huh?"

"Tell me about it." And she has school tomorrow, damn.

"You alright?" The waiter asks. "You look kinda fucked over."

"Well…"

"Wanna talk about it?"

The waiter puts his tray up before sitting down at the table, looking at her expectantly. Sakura blinks. "Don't you have to work?"

"Nah, my fucker of a boss went home and left me to close up. No one's here anyway."

"Oh, alright." She smiles. "I'm Sakura."

"Hidan."

"Nice to meet you."

"So, what's shitting in your life?"

Some people would think twice about telling total strangers their life stories, and a few months ago Sakura would be one of those people, but being with Sasori has made Sakura a very open person, very honest, so she totally spills the beans. Starting with her pre-Sasori days and ending with her disastrous dinner engagement with jerkface-Sasuke. Hearing it out loud, Sakura didn't know her life was so dramatic! When did her life start sounding like some teenage fanfiction story?

"Wow…sounds like a crap pie." Hidan muses, popping a dumpling in his mouth.

"Right?"

"That bitch doesn't know you; don't let him fuck with your life." He advises, waving his chopsticks around. "Seriously, Sasori is a pretty alright guy. Doesn't whine like a little bitch, gets his shit done, and his paintings aren't totally shits."

"Yeah, he's pretty great." Wait. Sakura looks up from her food. "You know Sasori?"

"Oh yeah, Konan and Itachi and Deidara too." Hidan nods, "We all used to be part of this group of friends, but everyone moved away a while back except for Dei and Sasori."

"Really?" Sakura is very surprised. "Sasori told me a little about it. He said you all used to do art stuff together."

"I'm not very artistic or anything, I just like to fuck shit up." Hidan laughs, a wide grin on. "Deidara always gets after me for that; said art was for appreciating, but I just like to fuck with people."

"Ah, so you're a true vandalize." Sakura giggles.

"Damn straight." Hidan chugs his tea like it's nothing, the hot water scolding down his throat. Sakura sips hers carefully. "I used to get those fuckers out of so much trouble. See, to be a good street artist you gotta know how to get in and out of places you don't belong. That's what I was best at. One time, we all went out painting. Those guys wanted to paint Samson Super Market's front wall, and you know that place; tons of fences and walls and all those cameras. Right when we finished the cops totally came down."

"Seriously? How did you get away?" Sakura's eyes widen.

"Thanks to me of course! I yelled at those dipshits to fuck off and totally booked it around the store to the back, bringing the others too. Showed them how to hop the back wall into the ditch in the back, under the tunnel and home free. There ain't no place I can't get out of."

"You'll have to take me painting then."

"Totes, we'll totally go bombing with everyone."

Hidan is a pretty funny guy, very different from all Sasori's other friends. He's playful and loud like Deidara but dangerous and violent too, obviously more daring and spontaneous. Sakura wonders what the rest of Sasori's old friends are like, and if she'll meet them too.

He's a pretty good guy too. He makes some meat dumplings and sugar sauce for her to take home. "Which way do you live?"

They go to the subway together. Hidan apparently lives on the northwest side of the city in old town, because it's so cheap and he says his roommate is really concerned about money ("That cheap fucker"). So they take the sub north together, which makes her feel better because riding the subway at night still gets her super nervous since the weirdest guys ride the sub at night.

One weirdo actually gets close to her on the train.

He leers at her and moves to put his hand on her thigh.

Hidan grabs the guy's hand and throws it off, putting a fist in the freak's face. "Try it again shitface, I'll end you."

The guy gets up and moves away, totally freaked out. Sakura smiles at Hidan appreciatively. Hidan just puffs up like a bird, outraged. "That fucker…seriously, men these days have no idea how to treat ladies."

They part ways at the north station after exchanging numbers. Heading home with a to go box of hot Chinese food and a new friend made, Sakura is feeling a lot better. When she opens the door to her house, she goes to the kitchen to put the food away. Father is sitting at the kitchen table, working on some business papers.

"Sweetie, you're back." Father smiles at her. "How did it go?"

"Fine." She lies.

After putting the food up, she goes and sits next to Father. Sakura is the spitting image of Mother, with the pink hair and green eyes, but she has Father's smile. After all, Mother hardly ever smiles.

"How's Sasuke these days?"

"He's…" A jerkface, "good."

"I always knew he'd turn out brilliantly. His parents used to go to school with Mother and me."

"Really?" Sasuke's mother is a really pretty lady, but his dad is totally scary.

"Mm, he looks just like his mother did." Father nods to himself. "And actually, if it wasn't for his mother I wouldn't have met yours."

"Oh?" Why anyone would marry Mother is beyond Sakura but whatever.

"Yes. She used to be an artist."

"WHAT?!" Sakura derps.

"Oh yes, a theater artist. Quite good talent." Father sighs, that usual smile spreading on his face in warmth. "When I first saw her she was in the middle of performing Shakespeare. When she moved on that stage, dramatic and precise, I could see so much emotion. So much strife and determination…I thought she was so amazing."

"Mother…an actress?" No way. Mother always says acting will get you nowhere in life and even if you do become famous you'll get old and Hollywood won't look twice at you.

"Oh yes." Father nods. "She was so good; I used to think she'd make it to the big time."

"Why didn't she?" Sakura asks.

"Well…I don't know." Father shrugs. "One day, she told me that she didn't want to do plays anymore and started going into the medical field. I never thought it nice to ask for an explanation; she was so different after that."

Why hasn't anyone ever told Sakura about this? Thinking about it, she actually doesn't know anything about Mother. Mother never talks about the past.

Father touches Sakura's shoulder gently, bringing her to attention. His eyes soften, his touch warm. "You remind me so much of your mom, how she used to be…Sakura, if you really want something you must be sure to go for it. You mustn't stop until your dream comes true."

Oh man, they're totally having a moment. Father never talks to her like this!

"I know Mother and I try to push you to do what we think is right, but that's just because I never saw you really aim for anything." Father speaks honestly. He looks into his daughter's eyes. "Lately, though, I see a fire in you. I can tell you've found something you're passionate about and I would advise you to reach for it, no matter what."

"Really?" Sakura's eyes widen.

"Really." Father's smile widens. "All I want is for you to be happy. If you end up in an office or Hollywood, I don't care. I just want to see you smile."

That's…so sweet.

Sakura can't help but hug Father, to which he puts his arm around her gently. "Thanks dad."

"Of course sweetheart." Father looks at her. "Now, what's say we crack open the icecream and make some Sundays, like when you were younger?"

"Dad! It's 10:30!" Sakura laughs. "I need to brush my teeth!"

"Oh hush, you know we don't pay that fancy pancy dentist for nothing." Father waves her off. "Get the bowls, I'll grab the icecream."

Sakura laughs and does as she's told. When's the last time she felt so loved by one of her parents? She can't say, but right now she feels closer to Father than anyone else in the world.

(End)

(1) Poster Making: This is how I make posters, but there are many ways to do it. First, draw an image of whatever you like on plastic. Then get a projector and project the image on a bigger piece of paper hanging on a wall opposite. Then trace out the image that's projected on the paper to get a large scale version. Use thin paper, the thinner the paper the harder it is to remove. Not too thin though! Don't want any rips! Then cut out the large scale drawing and take it to wherever you want to poster it. Get a tub of paste/glue and some large paint brushes. Paint the paste on the area where you're hanging the poster, then carefully put the poster on the pasted area, then apply more paste on top. You can either buy your tub of glue or, cheaper, make it yourself. I usually buy so I donno what goes into the making of glue.

That's how I poster, but there are many ways to do it.

I'm about to go on a literature period. I do this every so often. Watch, I'm about to download a list of classic novels and New York Times Best Sellers than go on a reading binge where all I do is keep my nose in a book for several weeks until I crave video games again. FML.


	8. Bombing

Sorry it took me a little longer to post this chapter.

My family and I are visiting Texas for a mini vacation right now, and I accidentally deleted all the apps on my laptop on the way over, including my Microsoft app so I wasn't able to open and of my documents. So right when we got to the hotel I went to the hotel's library and started typing on the computer there.

It's funny cause this computer doesn't have Microsoft either so I'm writing this chapter on my tumblr, which is weird. I feel like I'm blogging but really I'm writing a story. I guess this is how professional writers feel because they write wherever and on whatever they can.

Thank you for reading, please review afterwards.

* * *

That weekend, Sakura goes to Sasori's apartment very early in the morning.

He said he had a surprise for her, so she's actually very excited. When she opens the door she's surprised to find the apartment in an even messier condition than usual. There's huge poster boards leaning against the wall, a few platic buckets with paint brushes on top and rollers, and there's backpacks and boxes full of spray cans on the side. There's also some thick binders sitting on the coffee table with a cambra bag next to them.

"Sasori?"

"You're here." Sasori walks in from his bedroom, "Ready to go?"

"Go?" She blinks.

"To Boxertown."

"Boxertown?!" Sakura gapes, "What? Why are we going there?"

"A friend called and asked a bunch of people to go bombing(1) there." Sasori explains. "Deidara's coming too."

"What?! For how long?"

"We'd be coming back tonight, late. If we leave now we should get there in a few hours."

Deidara comes into the room, carrying a dufflebag. "It's gonna be tons of fun! Seriously, nothing's more awesome than group bombing."

"So you're coming right?" Sasori asks. Deidara looks at her expectantly.

Hesitantly, she nods. "Yeah, I guess."

"Sweet! This is gonna be awesome." Deidara grabs two boxes and some binders. "I'll start taking stuff down to the van."

He shuffles past her, skillfully opening the front door with his foot. Sakura looks at Sasori. "The van?"

"We rented one."

"Wow, sounds like a big deal." She smiles.

Together the three of them take all the art supplies and posters downstairs and put them in the rented van. The buckets, she learns, are actually filled with poster glue and the binders have hand made stickers in them. Sasori says Deidara mostly does the sticker making. Some of the backpacks have stencils in them, some have more spray cans and some have food and water. Looking through them, Sakura sees some of her own stencils that Sasori helped her make inside.

Deidara drives and once they're on the road Sakura realizes this is the first time she's ever left the city. How spontaneous! A day getaway for art? How cool.

Sasori says the friend who called invited a bunch of other people, and they're all meeting at noon. Sakura doesn't really understand what bombing is but this is quite the adventure!

"Who's all gonna be there?" Sakura asks, looking out the window.

"A bunch of people. Konan will be there, I'm sure."

It takes at least three hours to drive to Boxertown, which is actually one of the biggest cities around. It's right on the coast too, so the closer they get the more water starts showing. The ocean looks so clear and perfect. Even though its spring and the air is still cold, as they get closer to the city and the coast everything gets warmer. Sakura takes off her jacket and relaxes.

"Do you guys come here often?" Sakura asks when they enter the city.

"Not really." Sasori shrugs. He puts an arm around her. "But it's nice to get away sometimes."

"We're almost there." Deidara says.

When the van stops, they're at a park. Getting out, the air is fresh and there's the lightest of breezes brushing against Sakura's cheek. She stretches, the sun warm on her arms. Sasori comes up behind and wraps his arms around her middle, pulling her against him. She blushes, resting her arms on his and feeling perfectly content.

"Oh don't mind me~" Deidara whistles innocently.

Sakura laughs.

"Sasori? Deidara?"

They look over to see a group of people, about ten to fifteen people, gathered together. Sakura doesn't recognize any of them. Some of them have buckets with them and posters rolled up under their arms, others have backpacks and paint brushes, some just have a can in their hand.

The man talking to them has a paint brush in his hand and a backpack on, but he otherwise looks like the plainest person Sakura's ever seen. His smile is very fake.

"Hey Sai, thanks for the invite." Deidara grins.

"Mm, of course." The boy nods, fake smiling. "I see you brought someone with you."

"This is my girlfriend, Sakura." Sasori introduces. "Sakura, this is Sai."

"Nice to meet-"

"Sakura?" Sai gives a small, thoughtful frown. "As in Sakura, the flower painter?"

All three of them look confused over this. She gives a small nod. "Uh, yeah, I paint flowers."

"Ah! How wonderful to have you with us." Sai looks mildly, mostly fake, excited over this. He looks back at the other people who are standing around waiting. "Everyone, Sakura is here with us today. The flower girl."

Suddenly, everyone starts chattering. They look at Sakura in recognition, as if they know her but she has no idea who any of them are. For a few minutes some of them come over and introduce themselves, shaking her hand and saying how good it is to meet her. She looks at Sasori and Deidara but they're just as confused as she is.

"Well, we should get started soon." Sai says. "I'll be back in a moment."

He walks away. Deidara looks at Sakura in question. "Did you become a celebrity or something?"

"Not exactly." Konan jumps out of a car that parks behind them. She comes over and pulls out her phone, showing them different blog sites. On the blogs there are pictures of Sakura's flowers. Sasori takes the phone, he, Deidara and Sakura look through the various blogs with wide eyes. "A lot of people like Sakura's flowers."

"Seriously?" Deidara stares. "I knew she was good at flowers but this is something."

"She's like the next Flower Guy." Sasori says.

They look at Sakura who just blushes. She doesn't really consider herself that good of an artist, Sasori and Deidara are way more skilled, so this is all very surprising.

Before anything could be said about Sakura's fame or her flowers, Sai goes to the middle of the group of people and calls attention. "Alright everyone is here now, so let's get started. I hope we can all get to know each other and make this city better with our art.

I know you all are very talented." Sai pulls out a map of the city. "Alright, so I was thinking we could break into groups and head around the city from north to south and then round back here for dinner?"

Everyone seems to agree with this.

"Alright. Let's get started."

Then everyone starts to move. Some people group together and meet each other for the first time, others have already come in groups. Konan joins Sakura's group of course, and then two new people come over. One is a familiar face though.

"Sakura!" Hidan grins.

"Hidan!" Sakura smiles. They hug.

Sasori frowns at her. "How come you keep meeting my friends before I have a chance to introduce you properly?"

"I get around." She teases.

Hidan looks at the others. "Alright, ready to fuck shit up?"

"Let's do it!" Deidara laughs, clearly Hidan's partner in crime.

"Oh and this is Kakuzu, he's my roommate." Hidan gestures to the taller man beside him. He's very dark looking and shady, wearing a gas mask around his face. "He does real good stencils."

"Well, let's get started then." Konan says.

The others put their art supplies in the van along with Sasori and Deidara's, then they all get in and start to cruze. The city is twice the size of their own, so there's a lot to see. The ocean is really beautiful. After a few minutes of driving, they stop at the board walk on the beach. Getting out, each of them grabs some supplies and then they walk.

"Hold on," Konan stops at a vender's booth. She takes out some stickers and presses them to the wall. There are cute, funny faces drawn on them in blue.

"Lemme see," Hidan holds out a hand.

Konan gives him a few stickers. He goes to the nearest wall and stares at it for a moment.

"What is he doing?" Sakura asks.

Then, out of no where, Hidan runs straight at the wall! His momentum lets him run a good seven feet up the wall and when he realizes that's as far as he'll reach he quickly stamps the stickers on the wall and falls back down, landing on his knees.

"Show off." Konan rolls her eyes and continues walking.

"You know you love me." Hidan teases.

As they walk, everyone starts sticking stickers all over the place. Sakura gets a good look at all of them, they're very different. Konan puts up the most stickers though, and they all have funny faces drawn on them in blue. Sakura guesses that Konan draws funny faces since she can't show expression herself, which is actually a funny thought.

The boardwalk is really cool, with a bunch of sops and restaurants along the sides and the wide ocean right next door.

Underneath the boardwalk, between the gap above the sand of the beach is a wall holding the actually wooden platforms up. The wall is long and blank, only a few feet away from the water.

That's where they set up shop. After comparing designs, they decide to paint one of Deidara's pieces. The drawing he gives is a long one with different animated characters on it. They all pull spray cans out of their backpacks but Kakuzu still runs back to the van to get more, then they get to work.

Working on a large scale painting with other people is kinda difficult, Sakura realizes. First they divide up whose going to draw what, then they all have to take gray paint and outline where their parts will be and how they'll fit together. Sakura gets to paint this funny bird character that has a worm trying to get out of it's mouth. Her bird is right between Kakuzu's part and Konan's part, so they try to work together and make it very proportional.

Then, after the outline is done, they paint.

Sakura pulls a scarf over her nose, takes a tan paint can and touches the wall. The paint comes out thick, making the color very obvious and clear. Everyone else is moving too, drawing their cans across the wall in swift lines or coloring in large areas.

"Toss me the red." Sasori asks.

Hidan does, then goes back to his part. "This is pretty sick Dei."

"Don't I know it." Deidara smirks.

Painting together like this, working together, is so amazing. Sakura suddenly feels very close to these people. Coming together and respecting each others' skills enough to work on one piece together, it's very touching and unifying. They all work flawlessly together, letting each other do their own thing and helping out where they can.

Sakura tries to reach a high spot but can't, as she is very short.

"Need help?" Kakuzu asks in his deep voice.

He grabs her and, no kidding, lifts her straight onto his shoulders. At first she feels like a child, letting her legs hang down his shoulders and holding onto his head with her hands. Then she feels happy, because this is actually very fun. Kakuzu lines up with the wall and Sakura paints. After a while Kakuzu reaches over to continue painting his own side and once again the flawless group work happens.

"Finished!" Deidara grins when they're done." My baby is completed!"

"Alright, everyone sign." Hidan says, grabbing a white can.

Sakura takes her usual pink and goes to sign on her bird's tale. Everyone signs in different colors and while they do Konan takes a bunch of pictures for her blog.

"Where to next?" She asks.

"Meh, let's just boze around." Deidara shrugs.

They pack up and go back to the car to restock. Sasori and Sakura get some posters out, deciding to put them up. He carries a bucket and she shoves some brushes in her bag, holding a folder of small posters in her arm and some rolled up large ones under the other. their group walks along the streets now, ducking into alleys to put some posters up or just sticking them right where everyone can see them in plain sight.

"There's no way." Sasori frowns, "You'll get caught."

"Totally won't." Hidan grins madly.

"This is nuts." Deidara says.

"Nuts enough to work." Hidan laughs. "Kakuzu grab some paint!"

He does and the two of them leave the group. They go over to a store while the others wait in the parking lot, watching. The store has a huge wall with nothing on it, but some flowers along the bottom.

People are walking around them, in and out of the store. The street is crowded.

"They're so gonna get caught." Sakura says.

"Yup." Konan agrees.

They watch.

Kakuzu pulls out a large stencil of a small girl, Hidan takes out one of a vicious, giant dog. They line their stencils up so it looks like the cute little girl has the scary looking dog on a leash, the dog looks to be growling at the people walking in the store.

Said people are looking at Hidan and Kakuzu strangely, wondering what they're doing.

Hidan quickly tapes the stencils to the wall.

they both grab some black paint and start spraying out the stencil.

"No way..." Sasori frowns.

A lady stops and looks at the two of them, then she pulls out her cell phone and speaks in hushed tones to whoever is on the other line. Soon a few police men are seen walking across the parking lot.

"Here it comes." Deidara smirks.

When the cops are just a few yards away, Hidan tears the stencils off the wall and exposes the perfectly painted picture of the girl and her beyond scary dog. Kakuzu grabs the two black cans and together they run off. The cops chase after them. Hidan seriously jumps two cars and leads Kakuzu around the back of the store, where the cops chase them out of view.

There's a pause.

"Do you think.."

"No. There's no way they got away."

"Oooh but there is a way." Hidan whispers.

"AH!" They all jump back and realize Hidan is standing just behind them, with Kakuzu behind him. They both look completely fine, no cops in sight.

Sasori and Deidara look at them like they're aliens. "I'll never be able to understand how you do that." Deidara says. "It's not natural."

"We're just badasses." Hidan laughs.

"Agreed." Kakuzu nods.

Konan goes over and takes some pictures of their painting, while Sakura feels envious. She hopes Hidan will one day show her how to get away from the cops like that.

After Hidan and Kakuzu's little get away, they go farther into the city. By now they're closer to the south side. Sometimes they just drive but eventually they always stop, grab some supplies, and start walking. When they walk, Konan always puts up her stickers wherever they go. She has books full of them! The boys sometimes stop to paint or put a stencil up. Sakura pastes a bunch of posters. By the time they reach the south valley Sakura can't even count how many pieces they bunch of them have put up, it feels like they've gone through hundreds of paintings and stickers and stencils and posters and such. She's free handed so many paintings today, her hand is beyond sore. She ran out of posters a good hour ago and they've emptied two tubs of poster glue and seven spray cans.

"I'm exhausted." Sakura says, leaning against the office building.

Deidara and Hidan right now are up on a billboard across the street, pasting a giant poster of one of Deidara's birds on the left of the billboard. On the right, already put there by the people who paid for the billboard space, are the words 'Aim for the stars!' with a star above them. Naturally, the bird is flying toward the star.

Sasori comes over and pulls Sakura to him. She nuzzles his neck, slumped against him. "You're amazing."

"Nah, I'm nothing without you." Sakura says, smiling.

They stay like that for a while, him holding her and her hugging him. His arms make her feel so safe, and this day has been so amazing. Never would she ever have guessed she'd be able to be part of something so adventurous and fun, but Sasori made it possible.

His hand strokes her long pink hair, brushing back the soft hair to rub her neck gently. He looks at her, completely content with her warm little body in his arms. He never wants to let her go.

"...I love you." Sasori says softly.

Sakura blinks, thinking she heard wrong. She looks up at him slowly, sees the complete sincerity and warmth in his eyes and knows he really did say what she thought he said. Even though she claimed to love him during her drunken fit a week ago, Sasori has never heard her actually say she loves him straight out with a clear mind. Even if she rejects him right here, he does not regret his words. He loves Sakura. She deserves to know that.

A hot pink comes to her cheeks. She grips his shoulders, her soft lips curving upwards in a sweet smile.

"I love you, too."

There's something about hearing the words 'I love you too' that makes them infanetly better than 'I love you.'

Sasori gives one of his rare, only-for-Sakura, smiles. Then he takes her cheeks in his hands, still splotched with paint, and brings her in for a heated kiss.

_CLICK- FLASH!_

They pull apart and look to the left, Konan looks back at them through her camera lens. "...What?"

Sasori rolls his eyes, grabs Sakura's hand and starts walking again. They start heading back to the north side, it's getting dark now. On the way back they run into another group whose bombing. They're on top of this building trying to paste a giant poster on the side of the huge building beside their building. The poster through is kinda hard to lift up the stairs so Sakura's group stops to help.

Sakura goes to the bottom of the poster and lifts it. Sai, whose also in this group, is on the other side lifting the bottom. The others grab along the sides and together they push the poster upwards.

"It's nice to meet you, Sakura." Sai says with his little fake smile. "How long have you been painting?"

"For a month or so." She answers.

"Oh, so you're not that experienced?" Sai nods. "But you paint such beautiful flowers."

"Thank you." She blushes.

"It's funny how ugly people always draw the beautiful things."

Everyone stops.

They look at Sakura, then at Sai, then back at her.

"..."

"..."

"WHAT?!"

Sakura drops her half of the poster, causing it to fall onto the stairs and back down.

She grabs the long paint roller Konan is carrying, swings it in the air and smacks Sai straight in the side, knocking him down. Sai tumbles to the bottom of the stairs in a clutter. When he looks back up, a bucket of glue is flying towards him. The bucket smacks him in the head and opens, dumping glue all over him.

Sakura walks down the stairs slowly, cracking her fists. "Ugly? Me?!"

"Shit's about to hit the fan." Hidan sighs. He gestures to Kakuzu.

Kakuzu goes over and grabs Sakura around the middle, throwing her over his shoulder like a stack of potatoes. Sakura kicks and screams. "Let me go! I'll beat his ass, I swear! Put me down!"

Their group starts to leave.

"Sorry about the mess." Deidara says to the other group as they leave.

They get in the van and put Sakura in the back where she sufficiently fumes for the rest of the drive.

When they get back to the park, pretty much all the others are there already. There's a bomb-fire a few ways off on the beach. Everyone goes there and starts bringing food. This morning, Sasori and Deidara had packed a ice box full of different picnic foods so they bring that out. Hidan apparently brought a whole mess of Chinese sour chicken from work. Konan refused to eat anything but the mixed nut salad she'd made.

Night fell and everyone got together, eating and reflecting on the day.

A lot of people took pictures of their bigger art pieces made during their excursions. They go around sharing techniques and stories about them, saying how they got away from the cops or how the citizens would stop and watch them paint. Some of the art is so beautiful, so creative, Sakura feels very armature but surprisingly everyone really likes her flowers.

"Why flowers though?"

"I just, ya know, want to make the world beautiful. And flowers are beautiful." Sakura answers.

"That's deep."

Not really, but she's glad they think so.

Sasori comes over and sits next to her by the fire, putting an arm around her shoulder. She leans into him and feels the perfect calm that only comes after a completely wonderful day of awesomeness. There's a sense of belonging too; somehow she feels like she was meant to be here, doing art and sharing stories and coming together like this.

She feels so close to these 20 strangers, people she hardly knows are suddenly meaning more to her than people she's known her whole life. Looking at their art opens a door into their mind, and in a way art is the truest experience. You can't hide with art, art is real.

Sasori looks at her. "I'm glad we did this."

"Me too." Sakura smiles, resting her head on his shoulder.

So when they pack up, say goodbye and leave Sakura doesn't regret any of it.

Some people would feel bad about defacing walls or breaking laws or vandalizing property, but Sakura doesn't. She doesn't feel bad at all.

(End)

(1) Bombing: Going around a city and putting your street art everywhere. It's pretty random. Pretty much you just get some art stuff and go out and put it wherever you see fit. You can make a big deal out of it and bomb all day or you can just go out by yourself and post some stuff.

(2) The Flower Guy: A guy who paints a basic, cute, child-like flower around cities. His flower is really basic but a lot of people see it and like it. Since it's everywhere, he's widely recognized. Because he's mostly famous for the flower he paints, his tag name is 'The Flower Guy". Here is the flower he paints: /08web/AITP08/flower%

Not a lot of street artists get famous for their flowers, so I think if Sakura were to paint them continuously she would get famous for them, like the flower Guy.

I met this guy at school named Marcus who was telling me about his bombing trips. He said he and his friends will go out and post stuff everywhere, climb buildings and stuff.

Please review, it would mean a lot to me.


	9. I Love Art

I just started watching a show called 'Girls'.

It's about young women (like 20-something girls) who live in a big city, I'm guessing New York –I wouldn't really know cause I just, just started watching- and it's really edgy and funny.

It's also really, really sexually inappropriate. Like, Sex in the City but with 20 year old girls who wear clothes that are actually stylish. Plus, they're not super rich and fashion obsessed like the Sex in the City women.

I wanna say it's very Hipster and Boho but it kinda has this adorable grungy factor. I like it.

Short chapter ahead! But a lot of stuff goes down, so prepare yourself.

* * *

"I'm going out." Deidara says right when they get into the apartment.

"What? We just got back." Sasori frowns. "We haven't even unloaded the van yet."

"I'm going ouuuut!" Deidara yells, pulling out his cell phone.

When Sakura walks in, Deidara's walking out. She looks at Sasori in question.

"He's going out." Sasori shrugs.

He goes over to Sakura, closing the door behind her and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Sakura presses into his chest, smiling softly. Today has been completely perfect, completely. Nothing could make this day better.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Sasori nuzzles her neck.

"For loving me." Sakura looks into his eyes, "For being loved by me."

A blush comes across her face, and Sasori just loses it. Sakura is so cute, so utterly cute and perfect and flawless.

He leans in and kisses her deep and good, rubbing her neck with his hand, his fingers brushing her hair. Sasori pulls her into him, pressing their bodies together and kissing her warmly. Sakura makes a surprised noise at Sasori's forwardness, and soon he's got her laying on the couch with her arms around his shoulder.

Everything starts moving really, really fast now. So fast, Sakura has a hard time keeping track. Before she knows it her shirt is off and so is his and his mouth is leaving very sinfully good kisses across her shoulder bone. His hands are so hot, moving up her sides, slowly engulfing her body in a sweet fire.

But it is moving very fast, like, his fingers are already fiddling with her bra clasp and-

She pulls her mouth away from his, pushing him up a little bit. "W-wait, wait…"

"What's wrong?" He looks at her and for once in the whole time that they've known each other, Sasori does not look calm.

His usually aloof eyes are glassy now, looks at her with this hot passion that just looks _so_ freaking good on him. He looks so shaken up, like he doesn't know what to do with his body, with his hands. Their bodies are so close everything is getting so hot, burning.

Being the naive girl she is, Sakura looks at him innocently. "Are we…Are we g-gonna…do it?"

There's a pause. She looks up at him, blinking.

A soft chuckle comes as he smiles the smile that tickles her inside. He leans down and kisses her, much softer than before, and rubs noses with her. Sasori presses his lips to her cheek, kissing her rather cutely. "Yes, that was my intent. I'm sorry."

Then he slowly starts to push off of her, lifting away from her reach. Sakura panics, he's…not going to continue?

"W-Wait!" Sakura flutters, grabbing his arms that press into the couch around her. He looks down at her in question. "I…I want you to."

Now there's an even longer pause, full of surprise on his end and embarrassment on hers.

Sasori leans back, straddling her hips lightly. Sakura looks up at him, his smooth skin and long, lean stomach; god she just wants him to touch her again.

"Are you sure?" Sasori asks, voice serious. "We don't have to. I'll live another day if we don't."

"I know." Blushing, she moves her hands over his thighs that press down the couch around her hips. Her big green eyes look up at him, "But I want to."

"Why?" Sasori blinks, confused. "Usually you want to stop."

"Because," Carefully, she takes his hand and twines their fingers. "Because I love you."

See, so freaking cute. Sasori lets out a low sigh, squeezing her hand. "You don't even know what you do to me."

"You said you love me too," Sakura says softly, "So I want you to…to make love with me."

Sasori looks down at her and smiles warmly, feeling his heart beat inside. Sometimes he forgets he has a heart, but Sakura always finds it for him.

He moves down, pressing their bodies together again. Their hands are still twined together, pressing into the couch. Sasori brings his lips to hers, kissing her. Sakura's face feels hot again as he moves against her. She brings her other arm around his neck, pulling him deeper into her. His skin is burning her again, a sweet burn that she never hats to cool. After a while she can't tell which limbs are her own and which are his, because right now she feels apart of him, connected together by the fire growing between them; melting them together.

When she's lying naked beneath him, wrapped up in his warmth, Sasori brings his hand to her cheek. He looks in her eyes, loving the sight of her beautiful form. No one will ever see Sakura like this, just as no one ever has before him. Sasori makes a silent promise to himself, to never let Sakura fall away from him; to keep her forever.

His thumb brushes her cheek softly. "I love you."

* * *

Sakura goes home a few hours after their 'actions', feeling totally on cloud nine.

After being with Sasori in that way, everything looks different. She feels so much closer to him, so much more in love. Leaving him is getting harder and harder, because she just wants to be in his arms and talk to him for hours. When she's with him everything just feels so natural, so comfortable and she can really just be herself. He loves her for who she is.

The air is very cold now, but her skin still feels on fire from his touch. She wonders if this fire will ever cool down. Hopefully it won't.

When Sakura gets home, it's already night time.

Usually, by now, Mother is asleep and Father is reading the paper in the study. Usually, Sakura would slip in unannounced, go to her room and her parents would be none the wiser. Sometimes Father will come and check that she's home, but that's it. She's actually seeing a lot less of her parents these days.

Tonight, when she gets home, something's wrong.

"Sakura is that you?" Mother calls when Sakura opens the front door.

She stops, surprised Mother is still awake. "Uh, yes it's me."

"Come in here."

Shit. Ok, what has she done wrong lately? Her grades are still amazing, she didn't break curfew, her room is sparkling clean…Maybe…maybe they found out she's been sneaking out at night to see Sasori? No way, that can't be. She's been super sneaky about it, like a ninja.

When she gets to the living room, Mother and Father are both sitting by the TV. Weird…they don't usually watch TV together. In fact, this is the only TV in the whole house because they're not a very 'technologic' family.

Mother gestures for her to quickly sit down, too busy staring at the TV. Father has real serious face on.

Sakura sits, tense, and looks at the TV.

It's the news. A nicely dressed woman speaks:

"_Today all along Boxertown, various 'artists' cruised the whole city. They vandalized over a hundred private properties, more than a dozen office buildings, various parks and the boardwalk along the beach. Here, we show some of the 'artwork' made by these vandals." _

Oh. GOD. They're actually showing Deidara's painting, the one everyone worked on! There's Sakura's bird with the weird worm!

Mother and Father are looking at the TV attentively, completely focused.

Do they see Sakura's name tagged on the bird…? Can they tell that's her artwork?

Thankfully, the news flips through more photos of other art pieces from the various people who met today for bombing.

"_Police have no leads on who was involved with this movement, but they are sure there were more than twenty people involved."_ The news lady has this really serious face on now, _"Graffiti has increased in the country by 25% in the last year, showing no signs of stopping. Government officials, citizens, police and even children are worried about what's being done to their community."_

Now they're going through interviews from different citizens who saw the different groups painting.

"That is terrible." Mother says, pursing her lips and crinkling her nose. "Kids these days, going out and vandalizing other people's property! Can you believe it?"

"I can't…What is happening to the world these days?" Father closes his eyes in deep thought.

Both of them are shaking their heads, but Sakura is just staring at them with wide eyes. What…What they're talking about…hell, they might as well be talking about Sakura herself!

"Sakura, you don't know anyone who does this…this crap do you?" Mother says.

Sakura looks up, startled. Mother never curses, never.

Suddenly both of them are looking at her, waiting. They ask for the truth but their eyes are expecting her to lie, they don't want to know that Sakura knows people who does this…this…crap…but in fact, they want to know the exact opposite. They want to hear her belittle the very people who have become like family to her, more of a family than her real family. They want to hear her dismiss this art for crap, say these graffiti people are just looking for trouble, just looking for attention.

Then she realizes this would be the perfect moment to come out to them. If there was ever a time to tell them about her passion for art, about sneaking around to paint the city, about how spraying a wall gives her this sense of purpose because she knows people are going to see her work, see her soul, and react to it, react to what she's showing them.

But…Mother is looking at her with those eyes and she feels like she's about to throw up her whole stomach in one go.

"Sakura?" Father looks at her in concern.

"I…I don't." Sakura mumbles.

Mother's eyes lighten, the green hue going from upset to concerned. She scoots closer to Sakura, putting her hands on top of Sakura's own in her lap. Mother softens, rubbing her thumb over Sakura's fingers.

"Dear, you don't have to worry; we live in a nice neighborhood. Chances are you'll never, ever have to meet any of these delinquents in your life." Mother says gently. Sakura's heart starts beating real hard against her chest. "Once day, you'll go to a place far from here and have a family. Your life will be beautiful.

"You won't ever have to deal with those idiots."

For a second, though it feels like much longer, everything gets really quiet. The whole room gets a little whiter and Sakura can't even hear her own breathing.

But she can hear her heart. She can hear it loud and clear.

"I...I want to leave."

Mother blinks, having misheard. "What? What…What did you say?"

"I-I want to leave." Sakura speaks a little louder, but still a whisper. Her whisper cuts the room in half, it seems. Time feels like it's stopped.

It's stopped. Everything has stopped.

Nothing will be the same again.

"Sakura." Father hisses, looking quite outraged. "What has gotten into you?"

"I want to leave. I'm-I'm gonna leave." She gets up but her legs are shaking, just like her voice. Mother's eyes are so wide, her face so long. She's looking at Sakura but it feels like she's seeing something else, something in the distance.

"I'll…I'll go pack now." Sakura turns and starts walking out of the room.

"_Sakura get back here!" _

She looks back, Mother has stood and her eyes are still widened. There are tears in them now, threatening to brim over. Father is standing behind her, looking at loss for what to do.

"Can't we t-talk about this?" Mother says, "What's wrong? What- What is it that's got you like this?!"

Sakura looks at both of them and thinks of all the years she's spent under their control, with no voice and no mind. Now she has a voice, one she has fought tooth and nail over the last month to have. She isn't going to let her voice go now.

"I love art, mom." Sakura says, her voice airy and light. But it's the truth, the truth her parents didn't want to hear. There's a smile on Sakura's face now, even as tears are falling down her face. "I love art. I love it."

Both her parents look confused, what does art have to do with anything? Sakura is acting crazy, never has she behaved like this. She's usually a perfect girl, what's wrong?

After a particularly awkward pause, Sakura turns and leaves the room. She goes up stairs to her room, shutting the door hard. Leaning against the wood frame, her heart is beating a thousand miles per minute. Did…did that really just happen?

Her whole world has changed in the last few minutes; everything she knows, everything she has, everything given to her has been flipped upside down. Even this bedroom doesn't look the same; these four walls that have hid her from the world look back at her like strangers. For a moment…everything feels like a lie.

Except her love for Sasori. That can _never_ feel like a lie.

With shaky hands, Sakura starts to pack her bags.

* * *

"Thank you for walking me home again." Hinata smiles.

Deidara blushes, scratching the back of his head. "Can't let a pretty girl walk around at night by herself, ya know."

The night is very cold and Hinata is wearing this cute white coat with fur on the ends, her cheeks are blushing red in the chilly air. Deidara looks at her and really, really wants to put his arm around her shoulder, but he's never done anything like that with a girl. Hell, he's never done anything with a girl. Looking at Hinata though, hearing her beautiful voice as she talks about her love of books and seeing those gorgeous eyes looking at him with such kindness keeps him coming back for more and more.

"So, here we are." Deidara says when they stop at her doorstep.

This neighborhood is very nice and Deidara silently notes that Sakura lives only a block over. He also remembers living in this kind of neighborhood with his parents, before he left them for art. Looking at Hinata, he has to wonder what she would say if she knew what kinda lifestyle he leads.

"Thank you for walking me." Hinata smiles up at him, holding her books to her chest. "I'm lucky to have a man so kind to escort me."

"It's nothing." Deidara looks at her closely, a little flutter inside his stomach. "S-So…are you…ya know, free this weekend?"

"Free?" Hinata blinks, tilting her head to the side.

That's so cute.

"Do you have any plans?" Deidara clearifies. "Cause if you don't, I was thinking maybe you would let me take you out…on a date?"

Hinata's whole face suddenly turns the darkest shade of red in the existence of forever. She turns so red even Deidara is surprised. She clutches her books tighter, eyes widening and biting one lip. If she wasn't burning up so much Deidara might note how adorable she looks like this, but as it is he kinda panics because she's sort of started to shrink in on herself.

"A d-d-d-date?!" Hinata stutters, the word sounding foreign on her lips.

"Y-Yeah. I really like you." Deidara shrugs, giving a nervous grin.

"I-I c-c-c-can't!" She shakes her head back and forth quickly. "I'm sorry!"

Then she opens her front door, runs in and practically slams it behind her.

Deidara stares at the door, dumbfounded.

Still confused, he turns and walks away. She said no and some people would get over it but Deidara still can't stop thinking she's so adorable. Hinata is a really good person and more beautiful than anyone else Deidara knows. Sometimes, she reminds him of art. He just wants to hold her hand and do all that other goofy, mushy stuff Sasori and Sakura are always doing, is that too much to ask for? And no he can't just go find another girl, because holding some random girl's hand wouldn't be half as awesome as holding Hinata's hand.

Damn. Now he's in a real pickle, because he still wants her to go out with him…

"Deidara?"

He looks up, surprised. "Sakura?"

She's walking down the street all alone, with a huge duffle bag on one shoulder and a smaller, rolling bag being pulled. Looking at her, it's totally obvious she's been crying. Like a lot.

He runs across the street to her, "Are you ok?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine." Sakura huffs at him, but her eyes are starting to get teary again. "I just, ya know, thought I'd…I'd…"

Oh god she's started crying. Sakura lets go of her rolling bag to rub her eyes, sniffling sadly. Deidara quickly hugs her, trying to comfort his friend. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"I g-g-got in a fight with my p-parents," She sobs, "And I l-left."

"You left? Like, _left_ left?" She nods. "Woah, that's tough. Where are you going now?"

Sakura sniffles, looking away. "I'm not sure."

"Stupid, just come to our apartment." Deidara grabs her duffle bag, throwing it over his shoulder. Then he takes her hand and starts walking towards the subway. Sakura follows, squeezing his hand and feeling very much like a five year old. "Don't worry Sakura, it's gonna be ok."

"Thank you." She tries to smile, teetering after him. "You're a great guy Dei, I'm sure you'd make any girl very happy."

Deidara sighs, thinking of his rejection, "Yeeeah."

(End)

So President Obama is urging the Supreme Court to turn over California's ban on gay marriage.

When I read about gay marriage rights or the history changing for them, my heart starts to beat really hard. I'm serious, it does. Afterwards I feel really silly, because it's just politics and politics change every day, nothing is set forever…but somehow, my heart just beats so hard against my chest I feel short of breath.

I don't want to put pressure on Obama, but he's made a commitment and I pray that he upholds it. He's playing with my future right now, whether I have the chance to marry a woman I love depends on him and what he's doing.

Part of me is really scared, scared that he'll be like every other politician who just says stuff to make the voters happy and never follows through. I just…

I don't think I'll have faith in the government if Obama doesn't follow through, even if he follows through a little would make things better. When I talk about it, mostly when I write about it like I am now, I start to cry. There are few things in life that make me cry seriously, uncontrollably.


	10. Cleaning

To the people who dye their hair, can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

I've died my hair red like three times. The first time I went to a hair-lady and she did a great job. The last two times I've tried to dye it myself but it just isn't coming out as red as I want it too. Like, my hair is already dark brown so when I dye it, it comes out more brown than red. I've tried a redish-brown the first time I did it myself and this recent time, which was like two hours ago, I used this thick red that looked almost like a crayon red on the box but it still came out dark brown with red instead of full on red!

I just think there's something I'm not doing right…Maybe I should leave it on longer? I only leave it on for 30 minutes…maybe I should leave it on for an hour…

There must be a trick to this hair-dying stuff.

* * *

Mother stood there, staring at the door.

She couldn't believe it…Sakura left. She walked right out that door and didn't even look back, didn't say anything more.

Mother expects the door to open again any second, expects Sakura to run back in crying because there's no way she's ready to be on her own and she'll admit she actually does need Mother's guidance.

Of course, that does not happen.

Sitting on the stairs in front of the doorway, Mother tries to think of what to do but for once she's at loss. She has no control of this situation. Sakura left and Mother has no idea where she's gone to or why Sakura would leave or what Sakura wants from her.

Then Mother realizes, she doesn't even know her own daughter.

"Honey, are you ok?" Father asks, coming over.

He gently puts his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them. He doesn't look nearly as concerned as she does over Sakura's absence. Mother knows Sakura and Father are closer than she could ever be to their daughter, Father knows Sakura. He knows her. Mother doesn't.

"I'm…such a horrible mom…" And now she's crying, quite hysterically. When a parent realizes they're not a good parent, it's heartbreaking. All this time, she didn't even realize how horrible she's been. How can she not know her own daughter?!

"Calm down, it's going to be alright." Her husband assures.

"How can you say that?!" She stands up, angry. She thrusts her hand towards the door. "Sakura just left! Our only daughter is out there in the city alone and god knows when she'll come back, if at all! How can anything ever be alright ever again?!"

He looks at her, a serious expression on his face. "Because Sakura will be fine. I know."

"How?" She gasps, sobbing heavily. "_How_ do you know?"

"Because she's your daughter." Father says carefully. "And mine."

* * *

The next morning, Sakura skips school for the first time.

Sasori and Deidara don't go in either, but they're used to ditching.

She sleeps in way later than usual, too fed up with the world to even begin contemplating whether to get up or not. Eventually, Sasori comes into his bedroom where she's been passed out for the last ten hours and sits next to her on the bed. He reaches out and brushes a hand through her hair, waking her gently. Sakura looks up at him as he strokes her hair, running his fingers through the long pink tresses.

"Feel better?" He asks.

"Not really." Sakura sighs, throwing an arm over her eyes. "I feel like everything is ruined."

"Why?" He moves to lay next to her, draping his arm over her front. "Isn't it better this way?"

"In what way is this better?" She peeks at him.

"Now you can do what you want."

"But…where will I live?"

"Here."

Sakura sits up abruptly, looking at him with alert eyes. Sasori sits up too, but he's way more calm than she is. He's asking her to move in with him? Isn't that…like, serious? They've barely been dating for two months and already they're at the 'moving in together' chapter? This doesn't sound like a good idea, moving in together is a big deal.

"Isn't that a little too…I donno, serious?" Sakura says, "We've only been together for two months."

"So? I love you." Sasori throws his arms around her, falling back on the bed with her on top of him. "Move in with me."

Well, how can she say no to a face like that? "…Fine but I'm paying my part in the rent and stuff."

Sasori gives her a look. "I don't mind letting you live here for free."

"Well, I mind. I mind a lot."

"Where will you get the money?"

"It's called a job, smart one." Sakura smiles.

Sasori rolls his eyes. Then he pulls her into him, kissing her. It's amazing how, when the world is crashing down, Sasori is able to pick up the pieces and make everything ok.

So she moves in.

A full week passes and everything feels strangely normal. They all go to school together, come home, go out painting at night, sleep in, all that stuff. In fact, everything is a lot easier now. Sakura doesn't have to crawl out her window or take a long subway ride to get here anymore, and she doesn't have to worry about Mother or Father catching her.

It's really weird, though, not being constantly worried about Mother and Father.

She doesn't have to worry about being caught sneaking out or what they would say if they knew what she was really doing or what they would think of her if they really knew her. There's a sense of freedom to it but also anxiety, because this can't be how it all ends right? Something just doesn't feel right about this.

Anyways, the boys quickly got used to her living among them. At first it was hard because the apartment isn't all that big, plus there's only one bathroom and you know how that goes. And yeah, they can't go walking around in their boxers anymore or do any of those gross boy things boys do when girls aren't around, but they love Sakura so what the hey. Plus, there are benefits to her living with them; the apartment has never been cleaner. Sometimes, after Sakura finishes cleaning the place up, Sasori will walk in and swear he doesn't recognize the place. Also, Deidara doesn't have to do all the cooking now; Sakura's pretty good at making food and that always makes boys happy. And she does pretty much all the grocery shopping and such things, all those minor crap details people just don't want to deal with.

There is one thing Sasori isn't happy about with Sakura moving in…

"If you love me, you'll let this happen." She gives him a firm look.

Sasori glares hard. "Don't pull that card. I said no, woman."

"Sasori, we talked about this." Sakura sighs, "You knew this would happen when you asked me to move in with you."

There's a pause.

He lets out the loudest most exaggerated sigh of his life, then moves away from the bedroom door. Sakura smiles brightly and picks up her cleaning supplies, going up to the door.

"It'll be fine," She says to him, "You'll love it when it's finished."

"My room is fine the way it is." Sasori huffs.

"Keep telling yourself that, babe." Sakura goes in. She puts the cleaning supplies down. "When I'm done with _our_ room, I'll let you know."

Then she shuts the door in his face.

Sasori glares at the door. "…If she dares paint my walls pink…"

Other than that, nothing's really gone wrong yet. In fact, she dare think life is pretty perfect now that she's moved out and started her own life. No, it's definitely perfect. 100%

She doesn't miss her parents at all, not one bit.

Walking out of the bedroom a few hours later, Sakura is only half done cleaning. The room is a total mess! Like, papers thrown around, paint on the floor, clothes scattered everywhere. Even the bookshelves in there are a total wreck! The problem is Sakura can't tell what's trash and what's art, because a lot of the papers have scribbled business on them or doodles. Even though Sasori has a designated basket for his spray paint, there's an overflow of cans that are now rolling all about the floor. How is she ever going to get this done?

The boys went out for to get lunch, leaving Sakura to her cleaning business.

She goes to empty her wash bucket, pouring the contents out the window into the back alley. Suddenly, her phone rings. Sakura grabs it, glancing at the screen. She's so shocked when she sees whose calling she accidentally drops the bucket straight out the window all together.

Hesitantly, she answers the phone.

"H-Hello?"

"_Sakura? Are you alright_?" Father asks.

"I'm fine." She goes to sit on the couch, throat dry. "How are you?"

For a moment, Father doesn't say anything. "…Dear, I think you should come home."

"I don't want to." She mumbles, sounding rather childish.

"_I know you don't, but you have to understand we love you very much. We're very worried about you_."

"I said I'm fine." Her temper is rising slowly.

"_But Sakura, we're you parents. You're only 17. You have to come home, where you belong."_

"I do _not_ belong there." Shit. Now she's crying. "I don't belong where I'm scrutinized every single day of my life, where I'm afraid to move because I know _she'll_ be disappointed with me. I hate living there. Every day _she_ looks at me, I feel like I'm just never good enough."

Those last words came with a little sob, and now she's trying to not pant because for some reason she's out of breath and the room is getting really hot. Father doesn't say anything for a while.

"_You mother just wants you to be the best you can be, to have a happy life. She doesn't mean to make you feel bad, that's just who she is_."

"But I'm her daughter!"

"_She knows that_." Now he sounds rather put off. "_Sakura…your mother has been very upset since you left. She's always crying. She hardly comes out of the bedroom. I…I don't know what to do_."

Now Sakura's quiet. Honestly, she thought Mother would be angry with her and never want to see her again…

"_Sakura you have to talk to her. You have to tell her what you fee_l."

"I can't." Mother won't accept her.

"…_Think about it, please_."

"I-I will."

_"We both love you. More than anything_." Then he hangs up.

Right when he does, she bursts into loud, very messy, ugly crying. Leaning on her knees, Sakura cries into her hands. Father sounded so sad, so upset…and the things he said. Oh god, the things she said. Saying what she's felt all these years, just letting it out like that into the air…

Unable to remember the last time she cried this much, Sakura eventually falls asleep to the memory of horrible children calling her a crybaby when she was five.

Sasori wakes her, gently pushing her hair aside. She opens her eyes, looking at him. "Are you alright?"

Tear-lines are down her cheeks, her face is very hot. Pink hair is spread all over the couch. Sasori looks at her, his face calm and indifferent to the worry inside. He sits beside her, pulling her head onto his lap. Her big green eyes are swollen, obviously she's been crying for a while. He holds her cheek. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"My dad called."

Sasori sits up straighter. "What did he say?"

"He wants me to go talk to my mom." She frowns. "Like that'll ever happen."

For some reason, Sasori gets really quiet.

Sakura looks at him suspiciously, sitting up. "What?"

"Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if you got things straightened out with your mom."

What?! Sakura shoots him a dirty look, the little traitor. "How in the world would that be a good idea? She ruined my life!"

"She has some parenting problems sure," Sasori shrugs, "But she's still your mom."

"I don't think you understand. She's horrible." What more is there to get? "I can't see her, she'll never understand me."

"You don't know that." Sasori says. "You won't even give her a chance."

"Seriously? You're sticking up for her?" This is ridiculous. If it was up to Mother, Sakura wouldn't even be able to see Sasori. Mother would make sure Sakura never sees him ever again, and if she knew Sakura goes out painting the streets then Sakura would never see a piece of artwork or a paint can ever again. "She makes my life hell."

"I know you." He takes her hand. "You don't want things to end this way."

Sakura yanks her hand away, standing up indignantly. "You don't know anything!"

"Sakura calm-"

"My mother is a horrible person! She hates art. She hates you. She hates everything about my life. And you want me to go back to her? Obviously you don't know me at all because if you did, you would know that's a horrible idea!"

"Why don't you want to patch things up?" Sasori stands as well, still calm. "It won't hurt to try."

"Because I shouldn't have to be the one to fix anything! _She's_ the one who caused all these problems!" Why is he making her feel like the bad guy here?

"She's your mother…"

"Well I wish she wasn't!" This is exasperating. The last thing she wants is to fight with Sasori, who she loves so much, but he's looking at her with those calm eyes and she doesn't even want to deal with this. "Why are you trying to ruin everything? I finally have everything the way I want it and you're trying to bring it all to the ground."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but I know you're not the kinda person to just throw away your parents like this. You're not the kinda person to turn your back on your family and be ok with it."

"How do you know that?!"

"Because you're not like me."

Everything gets so quiet, it's unbearable. His eyes darken, Sasori looks away from her. Sakura wants to touch him, but he's so on edge now…

"…You talk to your dad though, you guys are still close."

"Then how come I don't live with him? It's true; I turned my back on my dad and his new family. I separated myself and never looked back….But I wish I had." Sasori looks her straight in the eyes. "I love you. I won't let you make the same mistake."

"Your dad and my mom are completely different people." Sakura argues.

"But she loves you, just like he loves me." Sasori steps closer to her. "You can't just break her heart like this."

"Break her heart?!" Sakura pushes him away, fed up. "Every fucking day of my life _she_ broke _my_ heart, by not accepting me for who I am. She would _hate_ me if she knew who I really am. That's what you don't get! My own mother would hate me!"

"You don't know that!"

"I do!"

Sasori looks about to yell, but shuts his mouth. He crosses his arms, frowning deeply. "You're being selfish."

Surprised and hurt, Sakura backs away from him. He's never spoken to her like this. Incredibly hurt, Sakura storms out of the room.

"Sakura wait!"

But she's already running down the stairwell at top speed, needing to escape. She needs to get away from him, from what he said to her; because deep down she knows it's true. She is being selfish, she does want to go see Mother, she can't live like this.

But she also can't go back to how things were before, being controlled every day and feeling like a complete failure.

There's nothing she can do. So, just like always, she runs. She runs and runs, but she has no idea where she's going.

(End)

I'm really not sure where I want her to run to next.

Part of me wants her to go to Hinata's and have a thing with her, girl to girl, about being honest and stuff.

Part of me wants her to run to either Hidan or Konan and go out painting with them. But if I go down this route, I totally want Sakura to get caught and put in jail for a night. haha.

Another, tiny, part of me thinks she should run to Sasuke just for the sake of drama.

What do you think? I'm kinda stuck at some cross roads...


	11. Escape

Thank you all for reviewing.

It means a lot to me, you have no idea. I have a reviewer-complex I swear. Sometimes I think I'm just being a snob because I get very upset when I don't get reviews for a chapter. I'm sorry I'm such a review cray cray person, I just like reviews.

Thank you for reading. I would also like to say some of your reviewers are very funny, and should be comedians.

* * *

Hidan has a talent for fucking shit up.

Even when he doesn't mean to, he ruins things. At first, when he realized this truth about himself, he was very upset and felt totally useless but now he's over it. So he makes a mess wherever he goes? Whatever, bitches better deal with it.

He can't help causing trouble, it's just who he is.

But he tries to do the right thing, he really does. So when Sakura ran into his restaurant crying, he went to her with the sincere hope of helping her. "What's wrong?"

Clearly she's been running, as she's out of breath and very shaken up. Hidan takes her shoulders and sits her down at one of the tables. It's actually pretty late; no one else is in the restaurant but them. He goes and gets some left over noodles, putting them in front of her with a cup of tea. Then he sits beside her with his own plate. "What happened?"

"I got in a fight with Sasori." She sobs, rubbing her eyes. "I said such horrible things."

"Hey, everyone gets in fights with their bitches. Don't let it get you down." He says awkwardly; he's not very good at advising people or comforting them. "Do you…ya know…wanna talk about it or whatever?"

She looks unsure. "No. I don't."

"Alright." For a moment they sit, just eating. The silence gets awkward after a while, and he grapples for something to say. "Hey, you know what gets me super up when I'm feeling shitty?"

Sakura looks at him in question.

Hidan gives a wide grin. "Breaking the law."

* * *

This is such a good idea, Hidan knows it. Sakura will feel so much better after this!

"I shall teach you the ways of high tailing the cops, young butterfly." He says to her.

Sakura tries to smile at this, happy for the distraction from her thoughts. Hidan can tell she needs to stop thinking about her problems and get happy again, and what better way to get happy than escape the police?

"Alright, there is good." He points.

"There?" Sakura frowns.

They look at where he's pointing. There's a large office building with a huge blank wall below the windows, perfect for painting because it's made of a smooth surface with white already painted on. The only problem is this wall is smack right in front of a busy road, cars passing by almost continuously. Also, there are people crossing and walking around it. This place is so public, there's no way they can get away with this.

"Bad idea." Sakura decides.

"See, that's what holds the normal, everyday street artist back." Hidan opens his backpack and grabs some spray cans. "If you wanna be awesome, you gotta own this shit and not worry about it."

He tosses her a pink spray can, to which she holds nervously. Taking out his own black can, Hidan smirks at her. "Trust me, it'll be awesome. I even have the perfect idea of what to paint, it'll be totally sick."

"Aw, what the hell." Sakura smiles.

Crossing the street all innocent like, they go up to the wall. They wait till the street is a little less busy, then get to work. Hidan starts by outlining a tall grim-reaper type character. It takes him a little while, but then when the outline is done he starts to fill in the black parts. As he's blacking, Sakura starts to paint some of her flowers around the grim reaper, making it look as if he's sitting in a beautiful field of flowers. She trades out her can a few times, painting in some green grass and red roses. Hidan pulls out a white can to color in the skull and bones.

People are looking at them weirdly, whispering. Cars are slowing down to see what's going on. For a while, fellow awesome/artist types stop and take pictures as they work. People actually seem pretty entertained and impressed by what's happening.

Eventually, though, some strict business person walks by, looks all offended and pulls out a cell phone to call the police. Shit.

Hidan hurries up on the filling in, Sakura finishes some smaller details and quickly they each tag the wall below the artwork.

Sakura signs her usual name in a pretty pink signature.

Hidan's tag name is 'Jashin', which he signs in deep bloody red.

Sakura looks at him in question. "Jashin?"

"It's a long story." Hidan smirks.

"HEY YOU KIDS! STOP THAT!"

Down the street, police are running at them. They look really, really pissed.

"Come on!" Hidan takes off in the other direction. "No matter what, follow me."

She does. Sakura sticks really close to Hidan. He starts by running all the way down the street, then circling the building. Eventually they end up back where they started, which is weird. Sakura is about to question why they just went in a circle, but then Hidan crosses the street. They nearly get run over, but survive.

The cop count has gone down, now only three are following them.

Hidan goes to an ally way, there's a dead end. "Now what?" She asks, out of breath.

He looks up the wall, sees a fire escape stairway going up the building. Taking a running start, Hidan jumps up and grabs ahold of the latter, pulling it straight down. "Climb!"

He puts her ahead of him, going straight up the latter. The cops come down the alley, see them climbing and go to follow. Once Hidan gets to the top, he unhooks the latter's bolts and kicks it down. The cops are shocked at first, then circle to the entrance of the building to go up the stairs inside.

"They'll catch us if we climb to the top…" Hidan says thoughtfully. "Jump."

"Jump?!" Sakura's eyes widen.

He grabs her hand, grinning like a mad fool. "JUMP!"

Hidan jumps over the edge of the metal fire escape stairwell, pulling Sakura with him. She screams, anticipating a hard fall, but then they land –gross- in the open trash bin just below.

The trash breaks their fall, but Sakura is sufficiently disgusted.

"Don't be a baby, come on."

They climb out of the trash. Thinking they're off the hook, they go out to the street again but-

"THERE THEY ARE!" It's two of the cops who fell back before, obviously catching up now.

"Tail it!" Hidan yells, cause when all else fails you just have to outrun the person chasing you.

They run and run down the street, weaving through the innocent bystanders who are bozing around. Just as the cops are falling behind, they turn around a corner aaaaaand-

BAM!

Smack straight into some people. Everyone falls down in a giant tumble. "What the fuck?!" Hidan yells, "Watch where we're going you assholes!"

"Hidan? Sakura?"

Looking up, they realize they've just bumped into Deidara. Hidan grins. "Hey Dei, small world huh?"

"S-Sakura?"

Sakura looks at the only other person who's fallen down in their mad escape, beyond shocked to see Hinata. Hinata also looks surprised to see her, as well as confused. Then Sakura frowns, what is Hinata doing with Deidara? "What're you-"

"STOP THOSE KIDS!" The police round the corner.

"These fucks don't give up do they?" Hidan sighs.

"GRAB THEM!" The police are closing in.

"Alright, everyone, I'll make this simple…RUN!" Hidan jumps up and takes off.

Sakura and Deidara get up and move to run too, but realize Hinata is still confused. She isn't used to escaping police like the rest of them. The two go back and help Hinata off the ground, then they all run down the street in a mad dash. They curve and cross streets, jump fences and barely miss getting run over, anything to get away from the cops.

Halfway through their escape, Sakura sees Deidara holding Hinata's hand as he pulls her along.

Then everything clicks.

"Oh my god!" Sakura gasps as they're running, out of breath. She points an accusing finger. "YOU'RE the girl Deidara's been talking about?!"

Hinata's whole face goes red.

Deidara looks equally as embarrassed. As they run, he shoots her a glare. "Remind me to kill you later for this."

* * *

Thirty minutes of running later, they end up back at the Chinese restaurant where Hidan works. Out of breath, a few scratches and a whole new meaning to the word 'run' later, Sakura still can't believe what she's just discovered. The girl Deidara's been cray-cray for is Hinata!

"How in the world do you know each other?" She asks them, still panting from their run.

"W-Wait, you know each other?" Hinata blinks, looking between Dei and Sakura.

"Hold up, so you two know each other?" Deidara stares at the girls.

Hidan shuffles in the background. "Well, you guys got some shit to work out. I'll just get us some drinks."

After a minute, the three of them sit at a table. It's almost midnight, the restaurant is empty and the air is silent. Deidara doesn't know what to say, and neither to the girls but there seems to be a weird web going on between them. Up until this point, Sakura has tries hiding her 'street art' life from her old friends but if Hinata is Deidara's friend then she must know about all this street art business right?

"So, how do you know each other?" Deidara asks first.

"Hinata and I are best friends, have been since the fifth grade." Sakura answers easily. "How do _you_ know her?"

"H-He saved me one night from s-some m-muggers when I was walking home from the library." Hinata mumbles. She's fiddling with her fingers now, which Deidara finds unbelievably cute. Her big eyes look at him. "How do you know S-Sakura?"

"UHHHHHH….." Deidara looks at Sakura for help. Oh, so Hinata doesn't know about the street art stuff huh? Shit. Sakura looks back at him in loss. "You see, she…well…we kinda…um…no comment?"

Hinata blinks.

Sakura sighs, this had to come out sooner or later. "Deidara is Sasori's best friend."

"O-Oh?" Right away, you can tell Hinata is thinking of all the rumors going on around Sasori. Everyone says he's a criminal who vandalizes buildings…does Deidara do that too? And Sakura? Her mind is working on overdrive, so many questions crossing her face.

"Hinata, you have to understand." Sakura looks at her old friend sincerely, "What we do, year it's illegal but, well, we love it. Street art, it's unexplainable."

"What d-do you mean?" She looks kinda scared now. "S-So…you guys go out p-painting other people property?"

"Yes but it's not what you think!" Deidara says quickly, panicking. "This art, it's amazing! To have people, every day, walk past my art and see it for what it is makes me feel on top of the world!"

"I know it's illegal and some people really hate me for painting their buildings," Sakura says carefully, "But I can't help it. I want to make the world beautiful."

They both look so earnest, so emotional. Looking at them, all shaken up like this, makes Hinata envious. She wishes she had something to be so passionate about. They know what they're doing is illegal, but they love this art so much they can't stop themselves. Looking at Sakura, her oldest friend, Hinata has never seen her with such sparks in her eyes. She looks so at peace with herself, so happy; so full of life. How can she reject them for doing what they love?

"Please, please don't get mad." Sakura reaches out and takes Hinata's tiny hand. "I'm in love with this."

There's a pause as they wait for judgment, Hinata's eyes unreadable.

Finally, a small smile comes to her face. "I see, I'm happy for you. To have found something you love so much."

"Really?!" Sakura brightens immensely. She scoots closer and throws her arms around her shy friend. "Oh thank god, I was so scared you'd hate me forever!"

"You really don't mind us doing street art?" Deidara's eyes widen. "You don't mind my art?"

Hinata smiles at him softly, shaking her head no. She doesn't mind at all.

Dei gives a long sigh, leaning his head on one of his hands. "Man, you're awesome."

Turning bright red, Hinata starts to fiddle with her fingers again. Deidara is looking at her with dreamy eyes, and Sakura can practically see the heart flying out of his head towards her face. She's never seen Deidara get this way! It's kinda funny, actually.

"So, where's Sasori?" Deidara asks when he comes back to earth, "Back at the apartment?"

Right away, her mood dampens again. She looks so sad both Hinata and Deidara become concerned right away. Sakura looks at the table sadly. "We got into a fight…"

* * *

Sakura ends up staying with Hinata that night, even though Deidara tries to urge her to go back and fix things. She can't face Sasori right now though, because deep inside she knows what he said is true. She just doesn't know what to do about it right now.

Lying in Hinata's bed with her reminds her of the fifth grade, when they would have sleepovers and everything was much simpler. When she was still too little for Mother to bully her into being the ideal daughter, but old enough to enjoy her life.

Hinata turns towards her in the darkness, her big eyes are still bright in the dark. She whispers, "Are you ok?"

"I don't know…" Sakura whispers back, "I don't know what I should do."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

There's silence. So much so Hinata starts to drift off.

"I want…to be happy."

Hinata smiles tiredly, reaching out and holding Sakura's hands under the covers. "Me too."

Sakura holds Hinata's hands, they're cold. "…Do you like Deidara?"

Right away her hands get hot and Sakura knows her friend is blushing in the darkness. "M-M-Maybe just a l-l-little…"

"Just a little?" Sakura giggles.

"I do l-like him," Hinata whispers shyly, "But…what about Naruto?"

"What about Naruto?" Sakura rolls her eyes. "Hinata, Naruto is dense as mud. He doesn't even know his own feelings about anything. Deidara…he really likes you, I can tell."

Hinata's smile widens, though it is unseen in the dark. She gives Sakura's hands a squeeze. "I'm sure it will all work out, no matter what we do."

"Yeah." Sakura smiles.

"And we'll always have each other, even if it doesn't work out."

"Ok now you're making us sound like Lesbians. I'm going to sleep before you try to get in my pants."

"Aw and my plan was working so well…"

Sakura sits up straight, wide eying her friend. "Oh my god, Deidara _is_ rubbing off on you!"

(End)

**Time to get serious people!**

I got some new ideas for fanfiction stories I want to run by you guys, but only tell me which I should work on first cause I won't work on them at the same time.

Summary 1:

Sakura takes charge of a mental hospital where the Akatsuki are the only patients, but they're more than enough to handle. These guys are downright nuts! And one certain patient has a social anxiety complex that she just can't get around. She's determined to help, but these patients are starting to rub off on her...maybe she's the one who needs help?

(That one will be a SasoriXSakura fic, just saying)

Summary 2:

Moving out is a big deal, even more so when you accidentally move in with your new boss. Working at a grocery store isn't exactly the dream job, but living with your manager is all sorts of messed up business. With nowhere to go and no other job to take, Sakura has to make the most of what she's got. And what's she's got is Itachi for a boss and a roommate.

(ItachiXSakura fic, if you hadn't guessed.)

That last one will be a comedy. I work at a grocery store and I have a lot of funny stories to tell about it. I don't know which story I want to pick though…hmmm…


	12. Blank Slate

Girl talk!

I started wearing red lipstick recently. Ya know, to match my red hair. (Thanks for all the hair-dye tips reviewers, by the way)

My mom says we both have very full lips, and lipstick looks good on us. I like how it looks but I'm not a very upkept woman so I tend to forget I even have it on. So, you're supposed to check your lipstick repeatedly to make sure it hasn't smudged or rubbed off. Since I'm so forgetful half the time I get home with a red smear all around my mouth, kinda like a clown but more on the 'someone-punched-her-in-the-mouth' side. I think it's funny.

I have to carry a mirror around with the lipstick so I can check myself, and I've never been a 'makeup-bag' or 'purse' type of girl so this is all new to me. I think I look very lady like with my red lips though, I be makin' kissy faces at all da hoes.

* * *

There are so many other places he'd rather be right now, but Sasori sucks it up and takes one for the team. If he and Sakura are going to be happy together, this has to be done!

Nervously, he goes up to the door and knocks.

Soon, Father answers it. He looks at Sasori in question, having never met him before, "Can I help you?"

"I'm Sakura's boyfriend." Sasori says. Father's eyebrows go up in surprise. "I'm…I'm here to see Mrs. Haruno."

Father looks down at him. Sasori looks back and for a moment he thinks Sakura's dad is going to slam the door in his face. Then the man smiles and his smiles looks so identical to Sakura's that it's clear she gets her personality from this guy. She sure as hell doesn't get it from her mom, that's clear. Father steps back, holding the door open. "Come in."

Sasori follows Father inside to the living room. The last time he was here Mother practically told him off, saying Sakura wouldn't be with him forever. He wonders if Father will say the same.

"Where is Sakura? She didn't come with you?" Father sits on the couch.

Sasori sits across from him. "She doesn't really want to see her mom right now."

"I know." Father sighs, shaking his head. "She is very stubborn, just like her mother."

"I was hoping I could talk to Mrs. Haruno about Sakura," Sasori says, "If that's alright."

Father sits back, a fond smile on his face. Sasori can tell Sakura's dad is a really nice guy and that makes him wonder why the hell he decided to marry Sakura's mom. Father nods his head. "I think she would love a visitor, she hasn't been herself lately. You must really love me daughter huh?"

"I do." Sasori nods.

"Yeah, not many guys would face my wife for Sakura." Father laughs. "You're a brave boy. She's upstairs in the bedroom, go on ahead."

Walking up those stairs feels like walking into a battle zone. Sasori politely knocks on the door a few times before hesitantly opening it and peeking inside. The room is really dark, only one lamp on in the corner. "Hello?"

"What are _you_ doing here?"

He pushes the door open more. Mother is laying in the bed, covers pulled to her waste and she's a complete mess. Her long pink hair is thrown up in a messy bun, she's still wearing her pajamas in the middle of the day and her eyes are red and swollen from crying. When Sasori steps into the room she gives him a glare so icy it puts all his glares to shame, but he presses on. This has to happen.

"I came to speak to you," He says, "About Sakura."

"You're the reason…" Mother practically growls, "You're the reason Sakura isn't my daughter anymore…I hope you're proud of yourself, taking my child away from me."

Ok, in the long list of all the mean things Sasori's ever heard, that's pretty high up there. Damn, Sakura's mom is a boss at being mean! She makes Itachi look weak! And Itachi is a fucking asshole when he wants to be.

"I didn't want to take her away. I wanted her to come see you." Mother's ears perk up at this. "But she wouldn't come. She doesn't want to see you."

For a second, Mother is quiet. Then her lower lip trembles and her eyes squeeze tight, small tears coming off her long lashes. She huffs and sobs, sniffling quite loudly. Sasori looks at her sympathetically, because no guy wants to see a grown woman cry. Slowly, he goes over to the bed and sits beside her. Looking at Mother crying like this reminds him of that night Sakura cried in his arms, when she was so upset. Perhaps Sakura is more like her mom than he thought.

"She hates me." Mother sobs, pressing her face into the pillow.

"She doesn't hate you. You're her mom." Sasori says. This next part he tries to be very gentle with. "Sakura just wants her freedom, to do what she wants and know you won't hate her for it."

"I could never hate her." Mother looks at him, trying to frown but only coming off with an upset puppy dog look. "She's my baby. I could never."

"Then…why won't you let her be herself?" He asks. "Why don't you want her to paint?"

Mother looks closely at Sasori. "She…She does that graffiti business doesn't she? Vandalizing streets."

Sasori doesn't say anything.

"I knew it…I knew the second I saw her reaction to those street artists on the telly." Mother crosses her arms, a look of disapproval on her face. "It's illegal."

"She loves doing it, and she's really good." Sasori says honestly. "Shouldn't parents support their kids doing what they love?"

"Even when it's illegal?" Mother looks at him with a frown. "If a child grew to love killing and murder, should the parent support it then?"

"It's art." Sasori explains. "It's free expression, no boundaries. No restrictions, no rules, no mistakes. Haven't you ever had something like that?"

Glancing over towards the dresser, Mother spots the picture of when she was young in dance class. Remembering the feeling of dancing, alone on that stage with no boundaries and nothing holding her back…

Sasori follows her eyes and sees the picture. At first, he thinks the picture is of Sakura but then he realizes that it's her mom and he nearly has a heart attack; they look exactly the same! Exactly to a T! Sasori looks back at Mother in surprise.

Mother sighs. "I used to love to dance. I dreamed of being a professional dancer one day, in front of everyone. Everyone would see me dance…that never happened."

"Why not?" Sasori frowns.

"I got pregnant of course."

Oh. "That's…that's unfortunate…"

"I never told Sakura anything about my dancing days; I don't want her feeling guilty." Mother says thoughtfully. "And I don't blame her, or her father. I love them both. I wouldn't want it any other way."

"What you had for dancing is what Sakura has for art," Sasori says firmly. "You have to let her do this. It's what she loves."

Things get quiet again. The room is very heavy somehow, tension in the air. Mother looks at the young boy, "You know she has little possibility of making money by being an artist right? Especially a street artist."

"It's not about money." Sasori says, "It's about being happy."

"And art makes Sakura happy?" Mother smirks. She leans back against the pillow. "Of course it does. I want her to be happy."

"So you'll let her do her art?" Sasori asks, eyes brightening.

"If that will make her happy."

* * *

Sakura is used to waking up late now so she gets up half past noon.

Hinata is already out and about, somewhere else. Sakura sits up and looks around. She knows she has to go back and see Sasori today, to fix things. If they don't fix it now they won't make it, Sakura can tell. And inside, she knows he was right about her being selfish. She just doesn't like to admit it.

Getting up, Sakura takes off Hinata's spare pajamas and puts her clothes back on. When she walks downstairs, she's surprised to find Hinata sitting with her cousin Neji.

"Long time no see," Sakura says as she sits at the table with them. "How's college life?"

"Filled with educated bliss." Neji smirks at her.

"Did you sleep well?" Hinata smiles at her, getting up to get Sakura some food.

"Yes thanks." Hinata leaves to the kitchen. Sakura sighs and looks at Neji. "You're so lucky to be out of high school already. I'm a junior and already I'm sick of it."

"Mm, I understand." Neji nods. "Have you thought of plans after high school already?"

"Not really." Sakura admits. The present has been so crazy there's no time to think of the future.

"Well, you should think of a college far from here." He suggests. "If you're tired and anxious, perhaps a change of scenery?"

"Good advice." Sakura thinks about it for a second. Then Hinata comes back with food and tea. When she puts the plate down, Sakura looks at her. "I'm going to see Sasori today, to fix things."

Hinata smiles brightly, clapping her hands together. "Wonderful idea."

After eating, Hinata walks Sakura to the subway. Hinata's presence has always been calming to Sakura, and of the two she's glad she was able to stay friends with Hinata instead of Ino. After a quick hug, Sakura waves goodbye and gets on the sub. She sits in the back, feeling nervous about seeing Sasori again but also missing him. She's hasn't spent a day away from him since they first got together, so it feels like forever since she's seen him instead of just one day.

Looking over, Sakura sees the back of the train is covered in tags. There are tags all over, scribbled and curved in different lettering. Sakura takes a moment to look at them, reading a few, before two certain tags catch her eyes.

One is in perfect cursive, elegant letters. 'Sakura'

The other is in heavy, dark ink: 'Puppet Master'

They're right beside each other.

Right here, here was the first moment when she fell for Sasori. Here is the first time she fell in love with street art. Touching the wall, she remembers Sasori putting the marker in her hand for the first time, giving her the control she so desperately needed. That feels like a century ago.

Wait a second.

Sakura looks down at herself. She's wearing Sasori's jacket, the one he gave her on their first date. It still smells like him. Realizing with surprise, Sakura hasn't gone a day without wearing this jacket in the last three months of their relationship. It makes her feel safe, warm.

Feeling Sasori's jacket around her and seeing their tags beside each other, Sakura resolves to work her problems out right away. She can't live without Sasori, she doesn't want to.

When she gets to the apartment building, Sakura takes the stairs two and a time. She can't wait to see Sasori! To fix everything! No matter what, she has to fix this. Taking out the key Sasori gave to her when she moved in; Sakura unlocks the door and rushes inside. "Sasori?! Are you here? I need to talk to you!"

After a moment, Sasori peeks out from the kitchen. "Sakura, you're back?"

"There you are." Sakura brightens.

Before he can say anything, Sakura rushes up and throws her arms around him. She nuzzles his neck, holding him tightly. Sasori hesitantly hugs her back but then she starts kissing his cheek. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be so awful. Can we please not fight?"

"I forgive you but…"

"Sakura?"

W-Was that…Mother's voice?

Suddenly, the kitchen door is pushed open and there, in their apartment, is Mother.

Caught completely off guard, Sakura practically jumps two yards backwards, her eyes wide and confused. Then she looks at Sasori and sees a little guilt in his eyes. Oh, _ooooh_, so that's how it is huh?

"You brought her here?!" Sakura snap at him, all thoughts of forgiveness and apologies out the window. "How could you?!"

"Sakura, you have to work this out with her." Sasori tries to sound gentle, "She's your mom and-"

"Exactly! She's _my_ mom! She's _my_ problem!" Sakura yells, temper building up. "What goes on between _my_ mom and I is none of your business!"

"I'm just trying to help you!"

"I didn't ask for-"

"Sakura, please."

The two teenagers look at Mother, and Sakura is very surprised to hear Mother use such a soft, tired tone. She almost sounds _desperate_.

Looking closer now, Sakura can tell Mother is not herself. She's not wearing her usual business suit and sharp heels. Her hair isn't in its usual tight bun, and her face is clean of makeup. Instead, Mother is dressed in sweats and her long hair droops down to her waist. Her eyes look so red, like she's been crying for ages and her usually invisible wrinkles look so worn and aged now. Mother looks so vulnerable; Sakura actually feels a pang of worry looking at her like this. Never, not even when Mother was sick, has Sakura seen her this messed up.

"Please, please just talk to me." Oh god, her lower lip is trembling! Her chin is crunching up! Her eyes are squinting! Is she…Is she going to cry? "I just want to work this out."

Suddenly out of breath and overwhelmed, Sakura stumbles back to the couch and sits down. Sasori directs Mother to sit too, then steps back to watch. Beyond this point is none of his business, he's done all he can to help them. Now, they have to take control of the problem and come out alive.

"Sakura, I am so sorry." Mother starts, her voice shaky. "I am so sorry if I ever made you feel like I wouldn't accept you for who you are."

Every child always dreams of the time when they can let their parents have it for everything their parents have ever done to them that they didn't agree with. Now is the perfect time for Sakura to let Mother have what she deserves, to tell her just how much pain she's caused Sakura over the years. In fact, Sakura has written long journal entries of what she would say to Mother about all this.

But now her throat is dry and for some reason she feels on the verge of tears. Her heart is swelling. She stumbles for something to say, "I c-can't change who I am. I don't want to."

"And you don't have to!" Mother says quickly, clasping a hand over her heart. "Sakura please, please don't ever change. I love you, darling. You are perfect to me, in every way."

"W-What? That's not true! You're always criticizing me."

"I just…I just wanted to help you become an adult…I thought I was leading you in the right direction," Mother closes her eyes. A stray tear falls down her cheek. "I didn't know I was hurting you."

"I know there are things you do that I will never understand, and things you do that I don't agree with," Mother glances at the spray cans lining one of the book shelves. Sakura's fists shake, waiting for her to continue. "But you must do what you love, and I want you to do what you love. I want you to be happy, with whatever you choose to do."

"Y-You do?" Sakura's eyes widen.

"Yes." Mother nods, opening her wet eyes. "Sakura, you're my baby. You'll always be my baby. But you're an adult now too. You have to make choices for yourself, better yourself however you see fit.

"And I will support you in whatever you choose to do, because I love you."

That's it, the water works are going off!

Sakura starts crying, vision blurring with tears. All her life, somewhere in the back of her heart, Sakura thought Mother didn't love her – couldn't love her – because of who she is. Now, now, she knows. This is her mom, and Sakura is her baby, and they love each other the way a mom and baby should. Sakura's heart feels two sizes bigger and twice as full now. That piece that's been missing, the wall that's been pushing her back, every doubt in her mind all vanish.

"I l-love you too, mom." Sakura sobs, sniffling like a child. "I'm s-sorry I was selfish and mean to you."

"Oh Sakura, my baby girl."

Mother gets up and goes to Sakura's side, standing next to Sakura and wrapping her arms around her baby. She holds Sakura close to her chest, and Sakura can hear Mother's heart beating so quickly. Sakura reaches up and hugs Mother back, crying into her and refusing to let go. Mother presses a kiss to Sakura's blessed, beautiful head and shields her from all the sadness. This is her precious daughter, and she silently swears never to hurt her baby ever again.

Sakura opens her eyes, peeking over Mother's shoulder. Sasori is standing in the corner, arms crossed and a soft smile on his face. His eyes warmly look at Sakura.

Sakura smiles back at him, "Thank you."

Mother looks over at Sasori too, having forgot his presence. She kisses Sakura's head again, then pulls away.

Waling over to Sasori, Mother stands before him with a very serious face. She looks at this boy, the boy who opened her daughter's eyes to a brand new world and opened her own eyes to what pain she was causing Sakura. Before, she had seen Sasori as temporary and pointless. Now, she has never seen a more perfect man for her daughter.

"You are a good person." Mother puts a hand on his shoulder, "I am very happy you chose my daughter to love."

"Thank you." Sasori nods respectfully.

"I hope you two will love each other for a very, very long time." A sincere smile crosses her face, eyes warming fondly. "I have never met a more trustworthy man to give my baby to. I know whenever Sakura is with you; she will be safe, happy and loved."

"I plan on being with her forever." Sasori says honestly. "I never want to leave her."

Sakura has never felt more loved! Sasori has gone beyond the stars for her, and now he even has Mother's approval! She smiles big, happier than ever.

"Then why don't you two get married?" Mother asks.

Yes, why don't they-

What?

"MARRIED?!" Sakura shrieks.

Sasori is looking at Mother like she's an alien. Sakura actually thinks Mother might've lost her mind at this point.

"Yes, married." Mother says simply, not even blinking.

Sasori and Sakura exchange a look and agree Mother has gone batshit cray-cray.

"I insist you two wed." Mother says, her usual stern tone returning. She looks at Sasori, narrowing her eyes slightly. They become cold again, and slowly she looks more like herself. "You just said you want to be with my daughter forever, did you not?"

"Y-Yes, but-"

"And Sakura obviously loves you enough to disobey me, run away and live with you." Mother looks at Sakura casually. "I swear, I'm surprised you two didn't already elope."

"M-Mom!" Sakura flames.

"Do you two not want to be married?" Mother looks at them expectantly.

Neither says anything, too shocked to even begin forming words.

"Then it's decided." Mother nods, coming to a conclusion.

Now she looks Sasori straight in the eyes, completely serious. Any other parent you would suspect this is a joke, but Mother does not joke. Ever.

"Propose to my daughter. Now." She demands.

Sasori looks at Sakura quickly, panicking. She looks like she's on the moon, she's so alarmed. Mother has never insisted on something so rash and unwise! Marriage?! They're only 17 years old! What the fuck is going on here?! And Mother has that look in her eyes, like she won't let this go until she's won. Shit, there's no way out. What is going to happen here?!

Legs shaking a bit, Sasori hesitantly walks over to Sakura.

Her jaw drops, is he really going to….?

Sasori gets down on one knee, looking quite out of place. After a moment of further confusion on both their parts, he reaches over and takes her hands. OH SHIT, he's really going to do it!

"Sakura Haruno," His voice breaks. He clears it, looking into her eyes and feeling quite rattled by this situation. "Will you…marry me?"

Throat dry, mind blank, ears ringing; Sakura says the only thing a girl with a batshit crazy overwhelming controlling Mother would say.

"Y-Yeah, I will." She gabs.

Sasori looks shocked, as if he'd expected her to say no. He glances back at Mother who still looks at them expectantly. Knowing what Mother is waiting for, Sasori turns back to Sakura and leans up to kiss her. Sakura, blushing because she's never kissed a boy in front of Mother before, kisses him back. What…What is happening here?!

Mother smiles, truly smiles. She's completely satisfied.

(End)

NOT THE LAST CHAPTER, PEOPLE.

I just finished an assignment for my online class involving 9/11. It made me really sad.

I hate, more than anything, the thought of killing. To think that hundreds of civilians – innocent, not-soldiers-who-are-trained-to-defend-themselves, men and women- were killed because one man couldn't turn the other cheek disgusts me.

War also sickens me. Literally, I feel so ill at the thought. War could be avoided if only a certain 30 people in the world decided to look past their differences. And I hate those certain people every day another war goes on.

I got in a heated discussion about gun laws in America with my friends the other day. I almost started crying.

My friend asked me "Well, what if there's a robber or murderer in your house. Wouldn't you shoot him?"

I said no. No I couldn't. I know I couldn't. I couldn't live another day knowing I shot a man, ended a life.

I'd rather die.


	13. School

**Dear SharkBait, (feel free to skip this review-reply if you're not SharkBait)**

What you need to understand, dear, is that you don't need a lover to complete you.

Trust me; the thought of having a boy/girlfriend is seriously overestimated. Right now, having a relationship and getting the guy/girl might seem like the most important thing but it's not. You're only 17, you have your whole life to find a person and even if you find someone now they probably won't last.

Right now, I advise you to work on being yourself. I think you might be so focused on finding a relationship that you're just gonna drive yourself cray-cray until you find someone to date. Believe me, once you stop focusing on it so much it'll happen. Just go about focusing on yourself for a while; learn some new hobbies, find some cool music, learn a new trait, shop for a new style, make some art, read some books. Learn new things. And I tell ya, one day out of the blue a special person will come and want you.

I believe, more than anything else, you can't fall in love until you accept yourself. You don't need someone else to complete you. A boyfriend/girlfriend won't fill that void inside you or solve all your problems.

If you feel like you're alone, so what. So fucking what? Being alone can kick ass. Just don't let it bother you, go about your daily badass business and eventually, when you least expect it, a hotass guy or drop dead gorgeous girl is gonna come out of nowhere and be all 'Damn, I need to kiss you. Right now.' In which, I advise you to just make out with that person and work out the logistics later.

* * *

"It fits." Mother beams, eyes shining.

"Mom, it's beautiful." Sakura blushes, looking at herself in the mirror.

A long, pure white dress drapes down her petite body. Feeling quite like a princess, Sakura does a little spin in front of the mirror. The skirt poofs out around her hips like Cinderella. It's weird how one dress can make a girl feel on top of the world. The short sleeves, the lace, the sash around the middle; everything is so beautiful.

"Can I really wear this?" Sakura looks at Mother with big eyes.

"Of course, I saved it just for you." Mother nods. They're standing in a bridal shop, a small little seamstress walking around tightening and fastening Mother's dress to fit Sakura's body. The whole room is white, just like the dress. A nervous little flutter tickles her stomach.

"…Am I really getting married?" Sakura mumbles, touching the soft lace.

Mother looks at her from her seat, sharp eyes softening. "Dear, I want you to be taken care of. Sasori will take care of you."

"Yeah I know," She turns to look at her mom, "What I don't know is if I'm ready to be married. Mom, I'm only 17."

"I was your age when I married your father. Age does not matter when you have a stable lifestyle to back you up." Mother scoffs, "You and Sasori are going to be big someday. Until then, your father and I will support you financially if needed. Besides, Sasori has been supporting himself financially for the last few years yes?"

"Yes, I know all that stuff. I know that we'll be fine financially and whatever…but…Am I ready?"

Giving a soft sigh, Mother gets up and goes to her daughter. She takes Sakura's hands, giving her a sweet smile. Her precious little girl, taking these big steps in life; how proud Mother is over her little girl. Seeing Sakura in her old wedding dress, how beautiful she looks and how grown up; Mother feels like she should cry, but of course her pride won't let her.

"Do you love him?"

"More than anything."

"Then you're ready." Mother's smile widens. She pulls Sakura into a tight hug. They've been hugging a lot lately. "I'm so proud of you, dear."

"Thanks mom, that means a lot." Sakura pulls back gently, looking in the mirror again.

They both look at Sakura's reflection. Looking at each other, they've never looked more alike. The same face, the same hair, the same figure but different minds.

"You're going to be happy." Mother says, touching Sakura's hand. "I'll make sure of it."

* * *

This whole marriage thing wasn't taking as big a toll on Sasori as it was on Sakura.

He loves Sakura. In all actuality, he knew one day he'd propose to her. Sakura is his love, now and forever. When he's with her, he's not alone anymore. Nobody makes him want to live more than she does. And just knowing they have this artistic relationship, one full of learning and adventure, just puts the cherry to the top of their cake.

Walking through school feels different though.

For some reason, Sasori feels beyond high school. Maybe it's just the senior-ness catching up to him, the wanting to get the hell outa here and graduate already. Being in this school just feels like a waste of time, Sasori would much rather be working on his art or spending time with Sakura.

Being in the art room helps though.

Grabbing a long roll of paper, Sasori gets some *fat tip markers and starts drawing out a new poster. Everyone else in the room leaves him alone, like usual no one really even notices him. Being alone with his work, alone with just a paper and marker in hand, is so calming and relaxing to him. Art, to him, is home.

"Sasori."

He looks up, pausing his work. The art teacher is standing right beside his table.

"Can I talk to you? It's important."

The art teacher pulls a stool up to the table. He glances over Sasori's half-finished poster, a little grin on his face. Then he looks at Sasori, pushing his glasses up his nose. "You're graduating soon."

"I am." Sasori agrees.

"What are your plans after high school?" The art teacher asks, "Going to college?"

"I'm not sure. College is expensive. I have other plans."

"Yes, I heard you're getting married."

"Who told you that?" Sasori frowns.

"Deidara. He has a big mouth." The art teacher laughs. "Anyway, marriage is an important part of life but as an artist you also have art in your life. You have to, as an artist, find a balance between art and regular everyday life. College is a good option. Learning is good for the artist."

"I agree." Sasori nods. "But College is expensive."

"Is your fiancé planning to go to college?"

"She is." Sasori answers honestly, "She's very, very smart. I'm sure she'll get scholarships easily."

"You're smart too. I've seen you're grades."

"I'm not interested in a career based on education." Sasori looks back at his poster, touching the edges. "Business, medicine, engineering…that sort of life isn't for me."

"But art is?" The teacher looks over his glasses.

"Yes." Art _is_ his life.

For a moment, the teacher is silent. He looks at Sasori's poster, admiring the fine lines and creative imagery. When he does look at Sasori, his grin widens. "I sent some of your work in to the Art Institute of New York."

Sasori blinks, actually surprised. "You what?"

"They have a scholarship deal for out of country students with amazing artistic skills. Only about 100 out of country students get the scholarship." The teacher says happily, "They messaged me back just yesterday."

"And?!" Sasori is on the edge of his seat, eyes widening uncharacteristically.

"You're in line for a full scholarship. They'll pay for all your tuition, books and classes for the full four years in which you study to get a major in art." The art teacher explains, smiling brightly. "All you have to pay for is getting over to America."

Sasori looks really closely at the teacher; is this a joke? A scholarship to America? That's too good to be true. America is the homeland for graffiti and street art, it's such a common practice in the States to pain walls everyone pretty much does it once in their life. America would be the absolute best place for art, because the people there are so cray-cray already they won't judge him like the people around here do. No…this is way too good to be true, it has to be a lie.

"I'm very proud of you Sasori; you're my best student by far." Then the teacher reaches into the arm bag on his shoulder, pulls out a thick packet of papers and a bunch of files. He passes all the information to Sasori, on top in big letters are the words 'Congratulations on your Scholarship!'

His usually calm eyes are wide with excitement, anxiety and the slight feeling he might throw up. This is such a curve ball, turning everything completely around. He looks at the teacher, "T-This is really going to happen?"

"Yes, it is." Then the teacher stands, putting his hands in his pockets. "If you need any help preparing or filling out the paperwork, just ask."

When he leaves, Sasori looks back at the files and papers in his hands. They're crisp and clean, formal. America…going to America for art…Holy shit.

* * *

When Sasori gets home, Sakura is looking at wedding magazines.

He goes over, leaning down to kiss her. She smiles up at him, "You have no idea how many varieties of table clothes there are. It's crazy."

"Oh?" Sasori sits beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

She leans back into him, flipping through one of the magazines. "Yup. Mom wants me to finish picking out all the table décor soon." Sakura looks at him, resting her head on his shoulder. "You know, I don't think we're traditional marriage types."

"I agree." Sasori nudges his nose against hers. "It'll work out."

Sakura moves to kiss his lips, pressing up against him. Her arms twine around his neck, pulling him closer. Sasori starts to kiss her back, hands finding her hips and mind slowly warming into a haze. Then he remembers what happened today and tries to pull away. "I have to tell you something."

Sakura, half ignoring him, continues kissing down his neck. "Hm?"

Shit. That feels really good. Hesitantly, Sasori lifts his chin so she can start kissing his collar. "Y-Yeah, it's kinda important."

"So tell me." So she says, but right now her mouth is doing sinfully good things to the joint between his neck and shoulder. His hands, having minds of their own, start moving down her back to the rounds of her hips, squeezing slightly.

"My teacher, he said…um…" What did he say again? Sakura is fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. "Something...Scholarship and, uh, America. I think."

Just when a nice little love bite is about to purple on his neck, Sakura stops. Blinking, she sits up and looks him in his glazed over eyes. "What? America?"

Clearing his throat, Sasori nods. His face is still red. "Yeah. I guess he sent in some of my stuff to this school in New York. They want to give me a full scholarship."

"New York?!" Her eyes are wide, jaw dropping. "You're going to New York?!"

"Well," Sasori brings his hands to her cheeks, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip, "I was hoping _we_ would go to New York together."

"Oh my god," A giant smile is breaking on her face, giggles bubbling up. "Oh my god! New York! We're going to go to New York?! That's crazy!"

"So, you _will_ come with me?"

"Of course! America! Holy shit!"

"I know." Sasori can't hide behind his calm-aloof façade forever. He smiles, chuckling and completely stoked. "We're going to live in America."

"Oh my god," She says again, gasping. "Isn't America, like, the place where all the street artists live?"

"Not all of them. But a lot." Pulling her face down, Sasori kisses her deeply. His tongue rolls over her lower lip before pressing inside, eliciting a heavy moan from her. His hands brush down her neck, rubbing her shoulders. When he pulls back he pecks her lips once. "It's the perfect place for us."

Unable to contain herself, Sakura lets out a squeak of happiness before throwing her arms around him and tackling him down on the couch.

Climbing on top of him, Sakura presses her lips firmly to his. Feeling hot and ticklish inside, Sakura presses right against him. His mouth opens and captures her tongue in a soft mingle of sorts, ending with a soft bite to her lower lip. Her breath is coming out in pants now, lightly brushing over his cheeks and mixing with his own warm breathes. When she opens her eyes, his are staring at her in a haze of love and lust. Oh how she loves those eyes…

His hands are like fire driving over her skin, leaving a hot path as they slip under her shirt and over her back. Resuming her earlier work, Sakura undoes the last of Sasori's shirt buttons before opening his shirt and touching over his warm skin. Carefully, he pulls her shirt over her head. Right away Sakura presses her chest to his, skin against skin.

Full kisses are pressed across her shoulder before a playful bite is left on her neckline. He loves to mark her skin, leave little bites here and there. Later, she'll look at the purple marks and blush, admiring them. Now, she moans as he sucks at the fresh mark, his tongue tasting her flesh.

The hands that have been sliding up her naked back now fiddle with her bra line before tugging at the material. Sakura leans up so he can pull the offending article off her body. Gently, bringing a moan out from her throat, Sasori holds her soft mounds in his hot hands, rubbing them firmly. Sakura pants, leaning her head on his shoulder with her eyes shut tight in warm bliss.

Sasori kisses her breasts, leaving a special mark right over her heart before licking a line straight up to her chin. Sakura shivers, blushing heavily. When he reaches her chin, Sasori moves to take her lips again.

Subconsciously, Sakura's hips move against his, wanting him.

He breaks their kiss to let out a deep groan, hands squeezing her hips and moving them against his own. Sakura shudders, unable to take any more. "S-Sasori…." Her hazed eyes look at his, half embarrassed and half too lusty to care. Shyly, she tugs at the loops of his pants. "Please…"

Tangling a hand in her thick hair, Sasori closes his lips over hers. Sakura kisses back, moaning.

Gently, Sasori sits up and pushes Sakura down on her back. He sits just between her legs, holding her waste in his lap. Patiently, Sasori looks down at her.

Splayed down before him, breathing heavy and eyes watery with needy love. Her hair is thrown all over the coach, one hand holding his arm and the other pressed against her chin in modest anticipation. She's biting down on her lower lip, cheeks blushing red and her eyes look at him, loving him completely.

"God, you're beautiful." He sighs, running a hand over her stomach.

Carefully, Sasori pulls off her skirt and underwear. Sakura can't help blushing madly, being completely exposed to him. Sure, he's seen her this way before but it's still embarrassing!

His hands slide under her thighs gently, leave more trails of hot fire in their wake. Slowly, but confidentially, Sasori leans down and brings her hips up. Pausing just to mess with her, Sasori blows cool air over her womanhood.

Sakura lets out an embarrassed squeak that he finds absolutely adorable. "D-Don't do that."

"Sorry." Sasori smirks, kissing her thigh gently.

Then he lets his tongue delve out over her core. Right away, Sakura gasps and her hand squeezes his knee. Sasori's smirk widens before he moves, licking at her center with full strokes. Sakura can't help but squirm as he licks her, his hot breath brushing over her sensitive skin.

"Ahh-Ahh! S-Sasori!" She tosses her head from side to side, going positively, pleasantly, un-regrettably crazy.

God, nothing is hotter than hearing her say his name like that. He tries to hold her firmly as he continues to bring her pleasure, but Sakura is starting to melt and turn to mush beneath him. Pleasured little tears are pressing at her eyes, falling down her hot cheeks.

"Sa-Sasori, please-fnuuuhhh-"She gasps between breathes, "_Please_ I need you. _Now_."

Heart tightening, as well as his pants, Sasori decides to obey her request.

With one last, hot lick over her hot flesh, Sasori gently lowers her hips back onto his legs that are folded beneath her. He unclasps his pants, then pauses. Sasori looks at her, blushing slightly. "Sakura…I don't have-"

"Bag." She mumbles, flicking her wrist towards her purse that's on the coffee table.

"Prepared are we?" Sasori gives her a teasing look. "Why Sakura, how lewd."

Too shaken up by her pleasure, all Sakura can do is give him an embarrassed pout. Chuckling, Sasori presses a kiss to her knee before reaching into her purse and pulling out the desired protection. Carefully, he slips on the protection and lines up with her entrance.

Just before he presses inside, Sakura reaches out, holds his hand and entwines their fingers. Then, without further ado, Sasori pushes into her hot warmth.

Right away, both of them moan. Her head falls back, a long breath driving out her chest and coming in a pant. Feeling completely full in every way possible, Sakura squeezes his hand. Having him inside of her brings this level of closeness that is incomparable to any other bond she's ever felt. On his part, knowing no one else has seen or will see Sakura like this just drives him all sorts of hot emotions. Having her in his grasp, keeping this one precious beautiful thing to himself, it's amazing.

Slow at first, then picking up speed, Sasori pulls out and presses back into her. Every time he pulls out, Sakura aches for him to be back inside. Every time he pushes in, Sakura throws her head back and lets out a loud moan, overwhelmed by the complete, absolute pleasure he's bringing her.

Heat is forming between them, building with each movement. Her legs tighten around his sides, his hand squeezes hers and their bodies feel on fire. Hot, beautiful fire.

"Ahhh, m-more…more!" Sakura cries, hips shaking from each thrust he delivers.

"Sakura…" Sasori moans, looking at her with compete, wholehearted love.

Carefully, Sasori slides his arms under her back and pulls her up. Sitting up in his lap, Sakura gasps as she finds he's able to reach much deeper inside this way.

Sasori wraps his arms around her waist, her own wrapping around his neck. Their bodies press together, the fire becoming even brighter as they become wrapped in each other. Softly, he kisses her mouth and she lets out a pleased noise as he moves within her while capturing her lips.

Pace quickening, thrusts deepening, Sakura knows she can't take much more. Her legs are shaking, hips moving up and down on their own accord, spine tingling. Her moans are becoming more like screams, each one echoing through the room with their lovemaking.

"S-Sasori…!"

Her insides are starting to clench on him. Realizing she's close, Sasori slows his thusts. He lifts her up and pulls her down hard, hitting roughly inside. Right when he reaches the deepest of her parts, Sakura shatters.

Her back arches, hands clenching on his shoulders, toes curling. White blinding her vision. Compete release.

As Sakura falls over the edge, Sasori thrusts into her a few more times. She's clenching down on him so hard, and seeing her lose herself in complete pleasure is so god damn hot he can't even hold it in. His hands squeeze her hips, surely leaving a bruise. He holds her down against his manhood, pressing up into her wet heat. Then, he lets go. Feeling completely satisfied, he releases and lets out a long breath of peace.

Sakura is panting on his shoulder, out of breath.

Sasori's eyes soften, a gentle smile gracing his face. One hand rubs up and down her back, drawing little circles on her shoulder blade. If he presses his palm against her back, he'd be able to feel her pounding heartbeats. They're hot and sweaty, pressed together like one being. Her arms are lax around his neck, too tired and relaxed from release to move.

Lovingly, he presses kisses to her neck and jaw. He looks in her eyes, smiling. "Tired?"

"Mmn…" She grumbles, nuzzling against his neck.

Slipping one arm under her lower waist, the other wrapping around her back to hold her firm against him, Sasori gets up and carries her to the bedroom. He's aware of her fingers that play with the short red strands of hair on the base of his neck.

Putting her in his bed, Sasori gets in beside her and pulls the covers over them. He kisses her tired lips gently before wrapping his arms around her. Slowly, her hands press to his chest to feel his heartbeat. Smiling, Sakura can't help but feel his heart is only beating for her, just like hers is for him.

"I love you." He whispers against her hair.

(End)

I was blushing madly that whole scene.

Seriously, I had to stop a few times to calm myself because I am just so embarrassed!

See, even though I'm all modern, free rights, rebel and independence and whatnot, I'm actually a very shy person when it comes to other people having sex. Like, all my younger friends, I get super embarrassed when they talk to me about kissing and dating and sex. Even if they're only a year younger.

I just get so shy! Like, oh my good gracious! *blushes*

There are some sex words that I just hate! Like, I hear them and gross out. So, writing a sex scene is pretty difficult because I refuse to use a lot of sex-related words like….nipples, condom, cum and any vagina-related terms. Ew. I just got a sick, gross feeling in my stomach from writing them just now. Gag.


	14. Mod Podge

I find it beyond funny that a lot of you are up for this Deidara and Hinata relationship. I swear it's the biggest crack/doesn't-make-sense-at-all relationship ever, at least to me.

When I was thinking of who to pair Deidara with, Hinata was the only one who came to mind. Mostly because I hate Ino more than anything and Konan is already taken. Also, Hinata has a thing for loud, crazy blond boys so I thought 'why not?'

Anyway, one reviewer asked very nicely if I would write some about them in this chapter. The reviewer was very nice so I decided to make pretty much this whole chapter about Hinata and Deidara. Hope you like.

* * *

There are a lot of things Deidara likes about Hinata.

She's quiet and shy and probably the most adorable thing on earth. The opposites attract factor is really working for him, because everything he likes about her is the exact opposite of himself. She doesn't do art but ever since she learned about him doing street art she's been very supportive of it. Sometimes, she'll ask to see pictures of his paintings. Sometimes she'll ask tons of questions about what inspires him. Sometimes she listens to him talk for hours about art but she always has this gleam in her eyes, like she's genuinely interested.

He likes spending time with her, because she's sweet and cute and everything nice about life. When he looks at her, he feels this tiny flutter in his stomach and his cheeks get all hot. Having never been interested in girls before, Deidara is very new to all these emotions.

While trying to make sense of said emotions, he spends a lot of time getting to know her.

"Hey Hinata." Deidara smiles, walking up to her.

Most of the time he walks her home from the public library. Today there are a lot of books in her hands. Without a word he takes them from her and she smiles at him, blushing slightly.

Today she's wearing shorts and her long hair is tied up. Super adorable.

"How are you?" She asks as they walk.

"Alright…I have something to ask you." He replies nervously.

"Oh?" Then her big eyes look at him innocently.

Ok. Just ask. Just ask it and pray she says yes.

He wants to ask her to be his date to Sakura and Sasori's wedding. He's the best man of course, and Hinata is the maid of honor. He can't wait to see her in her bride's maid's dress. The very thought has him blushing crazy.

Shit. Too nervous.

"Will you c-come to…to…" Just say it! "To the art store with me?"

Total cop out.

"I'd love to." Hinata's smile widens. She always smiles like that when he says anything about art. "Are you going to paint something today?"

"W-Well, yeah." Deidara nods.

"That's so c-cool." Hinata beams, super impressed.

"I guess." Feeling like a total god, Deidara gives her a happy grin.

Sometimes it feels like the only ones who shop at Konan's art store are her friends. Which is weird because it's actually a really good store, really cheap too. Anyway, Deidara doesn't talk much to Konan.

Konan does have the grace to look very surprised when Deidara walks in with a girl. This is followed by smooth teasing.

"What? A Girl's Day and you didn't invite me?" She smirks at him, "I thought we were best girlfriends Deidara."

Hinata giggles at this, to which Deidara blushes and mentally smacks Konan in the face with a hammer.

"Oh! What's that over in the opposite direction?" Deidara grabs Hinata's arm, directing her to the other side of the store.

Konan chuckles to herself, then decides this isn't over yet. She takes out her cellphone and promptly calls everyone she knows.

Going about his business, Deidara starts grabbing supplies. Duct Tape, a pot of *Mod Podge, a few cans of paint and a new paint roller cause Sasori totally sat on his this morning that fucker. Hinata watches him, looking curiously at all the stuff he's getting. After a while, his hands get very full.

"I can carry some for you." She offers.

"No, no, I'm ok." He insists.

"W-Well, at least let me carry my books." Hinata says.

Deidara carefully slips her books back into her hands. Hinata smiles up at him, those big eyes shining. Is there anything cuter than this person? Seriously, Deidara has never met a girl so absolutely adorable. Plus she's so sweet. And smart. And graceful. And, oh man, is she leaning closer to him? Or maybe he's just focusing harder on her. One reason or another, Hinata looks to be the only thing in the world right now and she's staring up at him with such innocent and kindness.

That's it. He can't help it. He's got to kiss her now. It's impossible not to with her looking at him like that!

Deidara leans the slightest bit forward, not even within a foot of her, but right away Hinata's whole face burns red and she becomes very flustered. This only serves to make her all the more precious, so he leans farther in. He decides that if she pulls away he won't make any more advances on her. If she pulls away now he'll stop hurting himself over trying to capture her. He'll stop. Forever. If she pulls away…

But…She doesn't. She's not pulling away.

In fact, Hinata's eyes soften until they flutter shut, long lashes brushing her hot cheeks. Her hands clench the edges of her books tightly and ever so slightly she has lifted onto her tippy toes, leaning up to meet him halfway.

That's so _fucking_ cute.

Alright. It's going to happen. He's going to do it.

Leaning closer, closer…

"Woah! LESBIANS!"

Instantly, Hinata drops her books and Deidara drops his supplies, both jumping is shock away from each other.

Deidara looks up, "Oh god no…"

"Oh, sorry! It's just Deidara and some girl!" Hidan laughed out loud, going over and smacking Deidara on the back, "Sorry Dei! I thought you were a girl!"

"You ruin my life." Deidara shoots him a dirty glare.

Suddenly, the empty art shop is full of all their friends. Kakuzu comes up and grabs Hidan, keeping him from causing even more destruction. Sasori and Sakura have just walked in the door, looking around and spotting Deidara and Hinata right away. Sasori smirks wickedly, seeing a chance to embarrass his best friend. Sakura goes to Hinata's side, smiling innocently.

"Hinata! Are you shopping for art supplies?" Sakura asks, still playing innocent.

"N-No I was just um-"

"Oh? Then what are you shopping for in here?" Now Sakura leans in really close, whispering in Hinata's ear, "A new boyfriend perhaps?"

"W-W-W-W-What?!" Hinata turns red all over, eyes widening.

"What did she say?!" Deidara demands to know, thinking Sakura said something embarrassing about him.

"Just how you wear panties and cross dress and eat babies," Hidan says casually, "No big deal."

Pein, who has sneaked in and now stands with Konan behind the register, looks over and says, "You forgot to mention how he shits glitter."

"WHAT?!" Deidara squeaks.

"Oh yeah." Hidan looks at Hinata seriously. "He shits glitter."

Hinata blinks, confused. Then she looks at Deidara as if asking for help, but Deidara is too busy keeping himself from strangling all his friends to even think about helping shit. Why does the world hate him?!

The front door opens again, the little bell jingling.

Itachi walks in, looking around. "Am I late?"

"Late for what? The 'Fuck-with-Deidara' show?!" Deidara yells, throwing his hands in the air.

"Well, yeah." Itachi smirks, shrugging.

The door jingles again, someone walking in behind Itachi. Deidara looks about to yell at whoever the next incomer is, but he stops when he realizes he doesn't know the boy. Well, at first he thinks another Itachi has just walked in and that freaks him out sufficiently but then he realizes the boy looks a lot younger than Itachi. He looks around to see if anyone else knows who the hell this kid is, but everyone looks just as confused as him.

Everyone except Sakura.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura stutters, sounding very uneasy.

Deidara blinks in confusion. Then he looks at Hinata.

Hinata is giving Sakura this very concerned look, and has stepped closer to Sakura. She hold Sakura's arm, as if trying to keep her from running away. Her usually clear, calm eyes are now clouded with trouble and unrest, looking very upset. Her lips are closed in a tight line, eyes looking at the new comer in an almost glare.

"Hello Sakura." The boy says, frowning slightly.

"Who are you?" Konan asks with a frown, having not called this person to come to her 'Make-Fun-Of-Deidara-In-Front-Of-A-Pretty-Girl' party.

"This is Sasuke, my younger brother." Itachi introduces. His smirk falls, eyes darkening somewhat. He looks at Sakura cautiously. "I was driving with him when you called, so I brought him along…I didn't know you would be here, Sakura."

The room has gotten eerily tense now. Everyone is looking between Sakura and Sasuke, wondering why Sakura is looking so upset.

Hidan comes to the conclusion that Sasuke is somehow making her upset just by being in the same room. So, of course, that means Sasuke has to get the _fuck out_.

"Why don't you piss off, asshat?" Hidan snaps, moving to stand in front of Sakura. He glares dangerously at Sasuke, fingers twitching. "I donno what you did to her, but I'll fuck you up."

Sasuke doesn't move or make any retort. He does glance over to Sakura and sees Sasori going to her side, holding her hand. He glares at their entwined fingers, then realizes something is shining off of Sakura's ring finger. A diamond.

A diamond ring.

His eyes narrow, a half snarl on his face. "You two are getting married?"

Sakura is rattled by his tone, right away tightening her fingers around Sasori's. She seems to almost shrink in on herself. Hinata and Sasori both look at her in worry, then back to Sasuke in annoyance.

"So what if we are?" Sasori snaps, frowning.

Sasuke scoffs at them. "You're making a mistake. He'll only ruin you."

"What did you say?!" Hidan yells in Sasuke's face like a rabid dog, "You wanna die, fucker?!"

Deidara's fists tighten. No one says that about his best friend, especially not some stranger. Sasori is the greatest guy Deidara knows and he won't let anyone talk trash about him, especially not to Sakura.

Everyone else seems to have the same thoughts in their heads. Kakuzu's eyes narrow on Sasuke; he won't let anyone beat Hidan's ass, because beating Hidan's ass is his job so if Sasuke makes a move Kakuzu will break him. Konan and Pein have come over now, standing on the outskirts and watching keenly for any movement that might force them to break Sasuke's neck. Even Itachi looks about to backhand a bitch, because Sakura is sweet and precious to him and Sasuke needs to learn when to cut his losses and back up. All of them have been in fights before, on the streets and at home and with each other; they know how to defend themselves and what's important to them. No one is touching Sakura and no one is talking to Sasori like that, Sasuke is no exception.

"Sasuke, go wait in the car." Itachi says, a warning in his tone.

When he doesn't move, everyone draws closer to him. Even Sasori leaves Sakura's side to move in front of her, and Hinata gently pulls her farther away from Sasuke's cold eyes.

Then, his eyes look at Sasori. "You're going to ruin her life. You are a criminal, you all are…you're going to destroy her. She's brilliant and amazing. You're just a rat crawling in the streets…If you marry her you're going to make her life hell, and she'll never be happy because you-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Deidara yells, slamming his fist against the wall.

Everyone looks at him in surprise, not expecting an outburst like that from anyone but Hidan and especially not expecting it from always-happy Deidara.

"Don't talk about Danna like that! You don't even know him! He's brave and strong and passionate! He protects what he loves and isn't scared of anything! Every day he risks his life just to do what he loves, and he won't let anything stop him. Danna loves Sakura so he won't let anything happen to her!" Deidara goes right up in Sasuke's face, until they're practically chest to chest and nose to nose. His blue eyes are so furious, so insanely mad, so pissed off, that there is almost a fire in them. "Danna is a good person. If you ever say anything bad about him again I will end you."

For a moment, everyone is frozen. Even Sasuke.

Then, without another word and a final glare straight at Dediara, Sasuke turns on his heels and walks out of the shop. The bell above the door gives a little jingle when he leaves, echoing through the room.

Hidan looks at Deidara seriously, "You're my hero, man."

There's a small giggle from the back, to which everyone looks at Hinata who is smiling and blushing. Her big, beautiful eyes look at Deidara shyly. "He's mine too…"

Face turning the deepest shades of red, steam practically coming out the ears, Deidara's eyes widen and he shakes his head quickly. "W-What?! A hero? Me? Come on, guys…that was just…like, it was whatever!"

Sasori smiles at his best friend. "Deidara? A hero…that is whatever."

Deidara gives Sasori a grin. "Whatever for Danna."

* * *

On the subway back to Hinata's house, Deidara still feels very embarrassed about what she said.

The way her eyes looked at him, he actually did feel like a hero to her. One things for sure, heroes aren't afraid to ask girls out. He has to be serious and just ask her to be his date to the wedding. Time to make it happen!

Hinata looks at him, smiling fondly. "That was very brave of you, sticking up for Sasori."

"It was whatever." Deidara shrugs, grinning.

"Yeah I know." Her eyes soften, "I'm also glad you made Sasuke leave…I don't like him being near Sakura."

"Oh yeah, what happened with them?" He asks with a frown, "Sakura looked so scared; I've never seen her like that."

"Well…It's not a story I like to tell…" Hinata's smile drops, eyes saddening. "It is a very sad tale…"

She scoots a little closer to him, fingers tightening around the edges of her books that press firmly to her chest. Deidara looks at her and waits, temped to brush her hair back behind her ear.

"Ever since freshman year, Sakura loved Sasuke. She admired his intelligence and his aloof attitude, and I also think she loved him because he was a challenge; all the girls wanted him but no girl ever got him. Except for Sakura, eventually she was able to catch him.

In sophomore year, Sasuke's parents had encouraged him to go out with her because of her family's status. So, he came to her house with flowers and asked her on a date. Sakura fell in love with him right away, she thought he was the one for her.

Sakura wasn't always loss of control, before Sasuke she was able to make her own opinions and choices.

Then, with Sasuke, she became a very submissive person. He wanted to control her…he wanted her to be like all the women of his traditional family who obey their husbands and do what they say.

She tried to be that way, but Sakura is a free spirit. She can't just turn off her personality.

So, after a short time, Sasuke told her 'I'm not interested in women like you'.

Then he left her, without a second thought. Sakura was heartbroken, because she loved him so much. I suspect even now she cares for him and wants his approval, but Sasuke is judgmental and cruel sometimes. He sticks by his opinions and never changes them…Sakura knows she's never going to be a good women in his eyes. After Sasuke left her, she became very meek and empty. She let others control her and tell her what to do, but Sasuke still never looked at her."

"That's horrible." Deidara whispers, looking down. Sakura is such a kind person, breaking her heart is so cruel and to not even care? Sasuke must be a total jerk.

Deidara's eyes narrow. "I could never do that to someone. Sakura is passionate and kind, breaking her so cruelly is the worst."

"I know…" Hinata's eyes close. "I hate Sasuke…I really do…"

When her eyes open, they shine at him brightly. Her smile spreads, cheeks tinting. "But you're not like him. I'm glad."

Shyly, feeling very nervous about the whole thing, Deidara moves to put his hand over hers. Right away her eyes widen and cheeks darken; she looks down so her hair covers her face, hiding how embarrassed she looks from him. Deidara also looks to the right so his own hair covers his face to have the same effect. These two are just too shy for their own good.

"So…Sasori and Sakura are getting married." Deidara says, looking at the ceiling of the train.

"Y-Yes." Hinata mutters, staring at the floor.

"Do you think maybe, if no one has asked you yet I mean," He swallows thickly, "Would you be my date?"

She lets out an embarrassed noise, her other hand that isn't holding his going to her cheek and pressing against her hot skin. Looking away, he can't see the smile spreading on her face. "T-That would be n-n-nice…I accept."

"Really?!" Deidara turns to her, eyes wide and jaw slack.

Hinata jumps at his reaction, looking at him with equally wide eyes. "Y-Yes!"

"O-Oh! Ok." Deidara stutters, turning back away just as she looks back at the floor.

The train is moving roughly through the tunnels and all the people around are crowded together. Hinata and Deidara don't look at each other for the rest of the ride, far too embarrassed. They don't say anything more.

Her fingers intertwine with his, and he squeezes her hand.

They both smile.

(End)

*Mod Podge: It's a type of paper adhesive, kinda like a glue. You use it for posters, collages and cardboard.

There's no one I like fucking with more than Deidara.

I've been trying to think about what kinda book I'd like to write. My dream is to be a professional writer living in England.

I've been thinking lately; I don't like writing drama-stories because they're predictable. I wish I could write a science fiction but I'm not that sciency or philosophical. I can't write a horror because I'm not that dark or mysterious. I'm a slow person so comedy is out.

So I thought, what about fantasy?

I could write a fantasy. I'm creative, I like day-dreaming and such.

So I'm working on the thought of writing a fantasy novel. The main challenge is coming up with a world that is all my own. Plus, I need to start reading fantasy novels if I'm going to invest in this. Any recommendations?


	15. Painted Flowers

SOMEONE should be studying for her Government test but that someone has decided to just write fanfiction stories for complete strangers instead. Something is seriously wrong with me.

But I have a B+ in that class so I'm not in any trouble of grade falling, plus my teacher allows test corrections so even if I get a bunch wrong she'll let me do them over again.

School is coming to a close for me, soon I'll be a college student and high school will be over. Mostly, I just can't wait to be on my own.

* * *

Putting the paint cans down on the ground, Sakura pulled out a paint roller from her backpack. Rolling on some yellow paint to the dirty wall, she gets on her tip toes to reach higher. The wall is covered in old graffiti from other people, but Sakura paints over the tags and other work to get a clean space. The yellow paint is very eye popping and sticks out from the long wall of other street art.

"Are you going to paint more flowers?" Hinata asks, watching her friend.

"Yeah. I hardly have time for this stuff anymore, what with school ending and planning this wedding stuff." Sakura sighs, continuing her work.

"I can't believe you're getting married." Hinata is sitting on a bench above.

They're in a skate park, but its early morning so no one is here skating around. The asphalt ramps and dips are covered in various paintings and tags, there's hardly a clean space around. Sakura is at the bottom of one of the ramp-holes, hidden from anyone on the top ground. Hinata is sitting at the bench, watching Sakura. She'd agreed to come watch Sakura paint because the two of them hardly ever got to hang out anymore, so Hinata had come along and now would hand down a paint can or paint brush to help out.

"I thought you used spray paint."

"Well, regular wall paint is good for small details." Sakura explains. "Can you pass me the green?"

Hinata picks up a green paint can, going over to the edge and passing it down.

Sakura takes it, pours some out and rolls it onto her paint roller. Then she paints the bottom of the yellow background green. Taking a regular paint brush, she spikes the green at the top of the flat around to look like grass.

"Are there lots of places to paint in America?" Hinata asks, sitting on the edge with her legs dangling down.

"I imagine. Sasori thinks so." Sakura shrugs, "I guess Americans are crazy about this sort of thing."

"Are you two going to be ok? I mean, you don't even speak English."

"I'm learning. Sasori already speaks English really well."

"Really?" Hinata blinks in surprise. She'd been shocked when she learned Sasori is actually very smart and has a GPA higher than her own.

Getting the smaller, various colored paint cans, Sakura starts to work on her flowers. She's learned how to paint lots of different ones of all sizes from exotic to simple. Sometimes, she would just paint flowers invented off the top of her head and sometimes she's paint ones from fantasy books she'd read. Today she decided to paint some with black petals and soft white pollen, being inspired by Hinata who watches close by.

"I wish I could paint or draw." Hinata says quietly, fiddling with her fingers. "I'm not artistic…"

"You're a good writer." Sakura says, "Writing is an art, I think."

Hinata smiles, brushing back her hair. "After this, we should go get your dress on. Your wedding is in a few hours."

"Yeah." Sakura tries to focus on her work, putting the wedding pressure behind her for the moment. Slowly, the flowers are coming to life on the wall, as if they're really moving in the breeze. The black petals look soft.

There's a deep pit in her stomach.

"Sakura…did you really not invite Ino?" Hinata looks away, fingers fiddling again.

Pausing, she thinks. Ino had been Sakura's very best friend for all her life until a few months ago. Sometimes, she wants to go and call Ino, talk to her. Hinata is her closest friend forever, but sometimes there are only things Sakura knows Ino would understand.

She cleans her brush on a cloth before dabbing it in a new color. "Ino doesn't want me to be with Sasori. She thinks it's a mistake…just like Sasuke."

"Mm," Hinata nods. The sun is starting to get higher; soon the city will be alive again. "Sometimes…I'm confused as to how everything has changed…"

"I know." Sakura looks at Hinata. "I mean, I don't even remember myself a few months ago. It's all so different now."

"Right?" Hinata smiles. "I like it though. I've only been in this sort of life for a few weeks, but I'm happy."

When Sakura finishes painting she had created a beautiful field of black flowers with pure white pollen with a setting sun creating this beautiful hue on the sky. The painting stands out completely from all the other graffiti around it, so much so that anyone who walks into the skate park would right away look to it. Staring at it, Sakura is instantly satisfied. The sky reminds her of new beginnings, while the flowers remind her of the past; the perfect painting for her wedding day.

"Let's get out of here." Sakura climbs out of the skating hole, bringing some paint cans with her and some brushes.

"Sakura! There's paint on your arm!" Hinata frets, looking at the white stains. "Will it come out before the wedding?"

"Probably not." Sakura smiles. "But that ok. Let's go."

* * *

"Damn you look weird in a suit." Hidan crinkles his nose.

"I'm pretty sure we all look weird in suits." Deidara frowns.

"Fuck no, I'm fabulous." Hidan scoffs, striking a pose in the mirror.

Itachi just rolls his eyes, sitting idly by.

They're musing around the dressing room of the chapel. The wedding is in a two hours so the wedding party is starting to pour in. The three guys are dressed in strict black suits which is really weird since they're used to messy paint covered jeans and splattered t-shirts. Being all fancy like this is making Deidara's skin itch, and Hidan looks about to rip off his shirt as the man usually goes shirtless anyway. Itachi keeps pulling at his sleeves.

"We look ridiculous." Deidara pouts.

"Well, you do. Just look at your hair." Hidan laughs, pointing childishly. Itachi smirks.

Deidara's long blond hair has been pulled back all the way into a tight black ribbon. Some would hardly recognize him since he has his full face exposes.

Deidara blushes red. "S-Shut up!"

The dressing door opens and they all look up as Sasori walks into the room in a much nicer suit than theirs. His hair has been slicked back, showing his very handsome profile for the world. His dark eyes look particularly heavy today, carrying their usual mystique. There's a gleam in his eyes though, anticipation. A small smirk of the lips. "How do I look?"

"Old." Hiddan groans. "Jashin, you look like an adult…I feel like a child now."

"Danna you look like a man!" Deidara grins.

"Do I not usually?" Sasori frowns at him.

Itachi chuckles, going over to straighten Sasori's bowtie. (Yes, I said bowtie). "You look fair."

Sasori's smirk returns and he looks at his friends, feeling a swelling in his heart. Today, he is going to take a very serious step that will affect the rest of his life; nothing will be the same after today. He is both happy and sad: happy he is going to be tied to Sakura the love of his life, sad because things are changing. Sure he'll still be able to go out with his friends and do his art and live his life, but it won't be the same.

"Thank you, all. For being my friends." Sasori closes his eyes, "I wouldn't be me without you."

His friends are caught off by the serious attitude, but then smile at him. Deidara goes to Sasori's side and pats his shoulder, grinning that familiar grin that never fails to comfort Sasori's troubles. "We're always going to be with you Danna. It wouldn't be as fun without you."

There's a pause in which they all feel the full effects of today, the change of life. Even Hidan looks solemn at this, but none of them would have it any other way.

"Enough of this," Itachi steps away to pin a pink Sakura flower to his suit. "We have a wedding to attend."

"Right!" Deidara puts on his Sakura too.

"Isn't this a little silly? Sakura picking Sakura flowers for her wedding." Hidan puts his flower on.

"It's perfect." Sasori says casually, pinning on his flower. He touches the soft pink petals fondly, wishing to touch the real thing.

As the others finishing preparing, Deidara steps out. He goes to the chapel where all the flowers and linens are laid, the seats set and alter decorated. The whole room is covered in white, with small specks of pink Sakura flowers lain everywhere. Workers are bringing in more flowers and setting up more chairs, hanging long strips of white satin over everything. They move around quickly.

Standing by the alter, looking carefully at all the tiny pink flowers, is Hinata. Deidara blushes deeply, breath taken away by how amazing she looks. Her dress is the lightest of pinks, looking near white and ever so precious on his lily white skin. Her long hair drapes down her back, falling off her shoulders in straight darkness.

She's beautiful, more so than any other girl Deidara has ever met.

He walks up to her, gently touching her bare shoulder. Hinata turns to him, her big gorgeous eyes looking up at him. Right away her cheeks tint pink, full lips pulling into a sweet smile. "You look handsome."

"Oh?" Deidara blushes. He had been embarrassed, thinking Hinata might hate his pulled back hair.

"I've never seen both your eyes." She whispers, her hand gently brushing his arm. "I love blue eyes…"

Slowly he brings his hand to her cheek, softly brushing hair behind her ear. Hinata ever so slightly leans into his touch, letting her eyes flutter shut. Deidara takes a breath, lifting her chin up gently. He dips down, letting his lips press-

"Hinata have you seen-"Konan comes in and stops, blinking. "Sorry, was I interrupting something?"

"N-N-No!" Hinata jumps back, eyes widening in shock.

"Yes." Deidara pouts, crossing his arms.

"What is it Konan?" Hinata asks, ignoring Deidara.

"Have you seen Sakura?"

Deidara and Hinata pause, surprised with this question. On wedding days, the bride is usually the easiest person to find. The two exchange looks before turning back to Konan.

"She isn't in her dressing room?" Hinata asks.

"No."

"With her parents?" Deidara pipes in.

"No."

"Out back?"

"Nope."

"Checking on the flowers or the cake?"

"No." Konan says, ever serious. "And I tried calling her cell phone. She's not answering."

Ok, Deidara isn't the kind to panic but a sweat forms on his brow at this. He looks at Hinata; her eyes are down turned in concern. Konan, always calm and quiet, even fidgets a bit in her bride's maid's dress. They all exchange glances.

"I'll try calling her again." Hinata says.

"I'll check the parking lot." Deidara walks off.

"I'll call the others." Konan brings out her cell.

The bride is missing.

* * *

(Earlier)

Konan finished her work on the soft white bow resting at Sakura's lower back, giving a soft pull to hold tight. "Done."

"Thanks." Sakura turns around, giving a soft twirl to her pure white dress. Wearing Mother's wedding dress is such an honor and Sakura is very happy in it, feeling even closer to her mom. A few days ago Sakura looked at Mother and Father's old wedding pictures and she had been very surprised to see how much she looks like Mother. She silently wonders if she'll turn out to be as beautiful as Mother too.

"I want a picture!" Sakura decides, smiling at Konan. "Go get Hinata, let's take a picture together."

"Yes, your majesty." Konan smirks, walking out of the room.

Right as she walks out, there is a knock at the door. Father comes in, dressed in his best suit and looking very proud. He goes to Sakura's side, smile widening all the way.

"My girl, my baby girl." He puts his hands on her shoulders, "You look just like your mom."

"Thanks dad." Sakura beams. She moves to hug him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

Father brushes a hand down her long pink hair, remembering when his baby was so little and tiny. Now, she's growing up. She's still very young but looking at her, seeing how far she's come already, he isn't worried. He knows Sakura is going to do just fine for herself.

"Now, I know Mother kind of pushed you into this wedding business," Father says, "But know you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I want to. I really want to." Sakura says into his shoulder. "I love him, dad."

"I know princess. I know he's a good guy. He'll take care of you." Father pulls back, holding her arm's length away. His eyes are so bright, looking at his precious daughter. "I love you more than anything, darling. I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

"Thank you, daddy." Sakura smiles softly at him.

Father lets her go. He walks to the dresser nearby, picks up her long veil and brings it over, carefully placing it on top of her head. He drapes the front over her face, and now she looks like a true bride. He kisses her forehead lovingly, mentally giving her his blessing. "Good luck, Sakura."

With a lasting smile, Father leaves the room.

Sakura looks in the mirror, seeing herself. She looks so different, but feels so perfect. Just wait until Sasori sees her like this; he's going to be so impressed. Thinking of him waiting for her at the alter gives her stomach all kinds of tingles. This is really happening. After today, she'll have a husband.

Sasori will be her husband.

Someone knocks on the door.

Too happy to stand it, Sakura goes to the door with a big smile. Maybe it's Sasori? Maybe he's snuck over to see her, to be with her. She hopes so. She opens the door, all smiles and joy.

Then she sees who it is.

"S-Sasuke?" She stutters.

It's him. Sasuke Uchiha is standing at her door. For a moment she thinks he might be here for the wedding, but then she sees he isn't dressed for the wedding. He's wearing his usual black shirt and jeans, looking very normal. Except his eyes are darker than usual, and she knows him well enough to know when he's upset.

"W-What are you doing here?" She steps back, hands clenching her dress tightly.

"You look beautiful." Sasuke says, coming into the room.

He shuts the door behind him.

"Thank you…" Sakura mumbles. She looks up at him, confused. "The wedding is going to start soon, I have to get-"

"There will be no wedding."

Sakura stops, stunned by his words. "Wh-What?"

"You're coming with me." Sasuke says seriously.

Suddenly, he's coming at her. Sakura is shocked when Sasuke grabs her arms and pushes her against the wall, pressing against her so she can't move. One of her shoes falls off as her ankle is twisted slightly, and she lets out a strained gasp.

"L-Let go of me!" Sakura yells, batting at him with her fists.

"I'm not going to let you make this mistake." Sasuke snaps.

Suddenly he presses a cloth over her mouth and nose. Sakura starts to scream but her call for help dies as her eyelids start to get heavy. Her breathing is becoming shallow, heart slowing with every second. Soon her limbs go limp and she falls forward into Sasuke, head resting on his shoulder as her eyes flutter shut with sleep.

Sasuke steps back from the wall, letting Sakura's sleeping form fall into him. He carefully slips his arms under her, lifting her up gently. Quite skillfully, Sasuke maneuvers the closest window open. He kicks the screen off like a pro, and then ever so carefully lifts Sakura onto the sill and out the room.

Sasuke just barely exits when someone is coming into the room.

Konan's voice is heard, "Sakura? Where are you?"

Waiting for a moment, Sasuke hears Konan moving around the room before leaving. He looks left and right, then stands up straight with Sakura cradled against his chest. Sasuke looks down at her calmly, then walks to the parking lot where his car is waiting.

Sakura is precious to him. She may not know it, but she is.

He won't let her make the biggest mistake of her life, no matter what.

(End)

Bioshock Infinite just came out this week.

I just bought my copy and spent all of Friday playing it. I am loving the game but I stand by my earlier thoughts that this game shouldn't be in the Bioshock series. It can stand as its own game and be perfectly amazing. The graphics are out of this world and the plot is pretty good, plus the setting is just beautiful. The game isn't as gory or scary as the other Bioshocks, nor is it as complex and challenging. I feel like this game reminds me more of Dishonored than Bioshock.

Still, devoting most of my life to this game for now so sorry this update might be late.


	16. Free and Alive

Contrary to what you all believe, I like Sasuke's character a lot.

I think there's a lot of room for development with Sasuke and emotional possibilities.

Because he doesn't explain his emotions a lot in the anime and manga so the fanfiction writer has a lot of room to work and create emotions for him. His characteristics are firm though so there's no question what type of person he is.

I like Sasuke a lot actually, I like to make him seem like the bad guy and then have him turn out to be a sweet heart. I think he's secretly a nice guy under all his fucked up emotions.

-X-X-X-X-

* * *

When Sakura wakes up, she's in…Uchiha manner?

Having been here a few times before, the paper walls and traditional decorations look all too familiar. She remembers this soft carpet, the beautiful view of the garden outside. There's the lake so pure you can see your reflection in the water. This place is very familiar, so Sakura doesn't freak out the second she wakes up. Then she remembers where she's supposed to be, and sufficiently flips out.

"What the fuck am I doing here?!" Sakura sits up, looking around frantically. "Sasori?!"

"_He's_ not here."

Looking over, Sasuke is looming nearby. He's sitting at the window, looking down at her calmly.

"Sasuke? What the hell?" Sakura snaps. Getting up is kinda hard in this wedding dress. Once she's up, she stomps her foot at him. "Why the heck did you kidnap me?! You can go to jail for this, ya know!"

"Would you really call the cops on me?" He gives her a look.

Sakura blushes, pouting. "Point taken…still, what the hell?! It's my wedding day!"

"Exactly."

Sasuke gets up from the window, crossing the room to the futon Sakura is laying on. He looks down at her and there is a severity in his eyes she hasn't seen there before. Almost anger but maybe a hint of worry and desperation, she's never seen him this emotional. "I can't let you get married to him; he's just going to ruin you."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Sakura frowns at him. "Sasori is a good guy. You don't even know him."

"He's a criminal." Sasuke reasons, "He defaces public property."

"So do I."

"Exactly, he's already influenced you to do crime."

"You don't understand; we don't do it for the sake of committing crime. No one paints walls just for the sake of delinquency," Sakura explains. It's not like they're going out painting shit just to fuck with the cops. "There's just this sense of freedom when you do it, like everything is open and you're alive. It's hard to describe…"

"That makes no sense." Sasuke scoffs, "If you want to paint just get a canvas."

"It's different. Painting on paper or a canvas doesn't feel the same."

"It's illegal." Sasuke snaps. He sits down in front of her, crossing his arms and looking very strict. "It's dangerous."

"I can handle anything." Sakura says. That's another thing, ever since she started painting the streets Sakura stopped being afraid. Now, she's fearless.

Pulling her knees to her chest, the wedding dress pooling around her like a puff ball, Sakura hugs herself and looks away. Sasori will flip out when he realizes she's gone, he'll come for her. Being with Sasuke like this is very nerving, but it also reminds her of their past and slowly the heartache is coming back. Having his eyes on her again, just like when they were together, makes her heat hurt.

* * *

"What do you mean she's missing?!" Sasori yells, eyes wide.

Everyone in the room looks at Konan, shocked from what she's just said. Konan looks at them all, "We can't find Sakura."

"We looked everywhere." Deidara says, "She's nowhere."

"N-No one has seen her…" Hinata fidgets in worry.

"She can't just be gone! She was here just a while ago!" Sasori grits his teeth. "What happened?!"

Konan tells how she'd left Sakura for a moment to find Hinata and returned to find the dressing room empty. They'd looked all over for her and tried calling her countless times but there's just no sign of her. They didn't ask many people if they'd seen Sakura because they didn't want to worry anyone but the wedding is going to start in just over an hour and the bride is still missing, so it's time to panic.

"Where could she be?" Itachi frowns, looking very upset.

"Her mother's car and the limo are still here, and no one saw a taxi come along so she couldn't have left by herself." Konan explains. "I think someone took her."

"_Took_ her?!" Hidan snaps. He gets so angry he literally flips a table over, knocking all the contents to the floor in a clatter and breaking the legs off as the table smacks against the wall. Hindan looks more crazed than usual. "Who the _fuck_ would take her?"

They all look at each other for a moment, contemplating this. Sasori looks at each of them, racking his mind for answers. His heart is beating so fast and he can hardly think straight, this is the first time he's ever not known what to do and he has the distinct instinct to punch something.

"Where is she?" Sasori asks the air, voice shaking. "Where is Sakura?"

* * *

Sasuke went to get some tea, leaving Sakura alone.

When he leaves she gets up and looks around. There's only one door and it's locked but there's an opening in the back of the room exposing the beautiful garden outside. Sakura goes out and sees that there is a taller than shit wall blocking the outside world and she has no hope of climbing it. The window in the room is the only other choice so Sakura goes to it and opens it. The screen gets in the way so she uses her insane strength to just punch it off the hinges.

Taking off her high heels, Sakura pulls her dress up around her hip and lifts one leg out and over the window. Thanking god for all the times she made get aways with Hidan and had to squeeze through tight spaces, Sakura starts to easily slip out the window.

Just when she gets her head out, an arm wraps around her stomach and yanks her back inside.

"Let me go!" Sakura screams at Sasuke who pulls her straight in, holding her up off the ground with one arm. Sakura kicks at his legs and tries to pull his arm off of her, but Sasuke has always been strong so she can't.

He goes over and drops her like a sack of potatoes back onto the futon. Going back to the window, he shuts it and locks it then looks at her. "Don't do that again."

"You can't keep me here!" Sakura screams, "I'll have to leave sooner or later!"

"I won't let you leave until you agree to leave that man."

Sakura lets out the most frustrated sound of her life, slamming her fist on the ground. "Damn it Sasuke, let me go! This is none of your business! Why the hell do you even care?!"

Now she's practically throwing a tantrum, repeatedly kicking her legs and hitting the floor. Her face is getting pink from anger and her hair is falling around her in a mess, dress wrinkling around her and she pushes at the fabric in annoyance.

"Why do you care?! You left me! You _left_!" She screams at him, hot tears ruining her makeup. "You dumped me like it was nothing and ignored me forever, so what do you want from me?! Why now?! Why, Sasuke?! Why did you _leave_ me?!"

Now she's sobbing like a baby, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. Her breathing is coming out in hysteric hiccups and her face is hot. Why did Sasuke leave her? Why did he have to break her heart and ruin her life? Fuck, the second she finds a good man to love her and is actually happy for once Sasuke has to come back and ruin it all over again! Does he hate her? Does he just want her to be unhappy forever?!

A hand touches her cheek, brushing away a hot tear. Sakura looks at Sasuke, lip trembling. "Why…Why did you leave me? Why do you care now?"

Sasuke pulls his hand back, sitting beside her. His eyes look into hers but she doesn't know what he can say to make this better and half expects him not to say anything at all, because Sasuke has never been one to explain himself. He does what he wants and doesn't care if anyone disagrees.

"I left…because I knew I wasn't the one for you." Sasuke whispers. Sakura looks at him with wide eyes, heart clenching. Sasuke looks off, unable to face her.

"You are such a beautiful person, so alive." Sasuke says calmly, "When I was with you, I could see I was breaking you down, I was trying to put you in a cage without meaning to…I couldn't stop though, it's just who I am. So I left you, because I didn't want to destroy you."

Now he looks at her. Carefully, Sasuke touches her hand. "I never imagined you would find another man, I've always thought you should be alone. Because you don't need anyone, you're a bird and birds fly free with no restrictions. You weren't meant to be kept, to be controlled. You have to be free."

All this time, Sakura had thought Sasuke didn't like her because he couldn't control her. But in reality, he hated himself for trying to control her. He wanted her to live a free life, where she can do everything she wanted to. Sakura is constantly moving, constantly alive – she can't be stopped and held back by others, she has to have a life solely belonging to herself, un-devoted and un-reliant; independent.

"When I think of my past, I think of you." Sasuke says seriously, squeezing her hand. There is a furiousity in his eyes, determination. "I _will_ make sure you are free."

For the first time, she understands him. Sakura looks at Sasuke and feels like she's been an idiot all this time. Sasuke wasn't trying to ruin her, he was trying to protect her.

"Sasori makes me happy." Sakura says gently, "I want to marry him."

"He will ruin you, hold you back." Sasuke says with narrow eyes, "His choices will get you both locked up, and then you will not be able to do what you want."

"But I want to do what he does, I choose to do art, he doesn't force it on me." Sakura says. "Art makes me feel alive, feel happy."

Sasuke studies her, not clearly understanding. Art has always been irrelevant to him, but hearing her describe it makes him consider the possibilities.

"He'll hold you back…"

"No he won't." Sakura says, "Because he is free too."

There is silence. The birds outside chirp, the sky clears, time passes. Sasuke lets go of her hand and touches her cheek, feeling the warmth under his fingers. This girl has always been so alive, so warm like the sun, nothing about her is dead or unfeeling. She is so opposite of him, and he loves that about her. Sasuke knows somewhere he had fallen in love with Sakura, but now he only wishes to protect her. To protect the love they used to have. Sakura is in his heart, looking into her eyes reminds him of his past and of life.

Pulling back, Sasuke stands. He holds his hand out to her. Sakura takes it and he helps her to stand. "Put your shoes back on. I'll take you back to him."

He starts to let go of her hand but Sakura pull him forward and hugs him tightly, feeling closer to him than ever. Sasuke hesitates before hugging her back, placing his chin atop her head and feeling content. There is peace.

"You're a good friend," Sakura whispers against his shoulder.

"Thank you, Sakura." Sasuke says, the softest of smiles lighting his face.

* * *

Itachi thinks about who would take Sakura, about where she could be. Sasori is having a panic attack right now so the issue is pressing, Itachi thinks hard and he's a smart guy so it doesn't take long for him to come up with the answer, and the answer surprises and stresses him. "Sasuke."

Everyone looks at him.

"Sasuke must've taken her."

"Fucker, I will kill him!" Hidan yells.

Hidan won't get the chance though because Sasori looks about to rip Sasuke's throat out. Without another word, Sasori storms out of the room and goes to the exit of the building. He knows his way to Itachi's house and already imagines all the things he's going to do to Sasuke when he gets there. Mostly, he prays Sakura is alright and hopes he can get to her soon.

Everyone follows after him, but when they reach the lobby of the building the door opens and Sakura walks in.

"Sakura!" Sasori breathes in relief, going up and wrapping his arms around her tightly. He presses a hard kiss against her lips, hands shaking. "I was so worried."

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She smiles, hugging him back. "I'm here. Everything is ok."

The door opens again and Sasuke comes in calmly.

Sasori sees him and glares death, "_You_."

Passing Sakura over to Deidara, Sasori goes right up and grabs Sasuke's shoulder with one hand and swings a his hard fist right into Sasuke's jaw. Sasuke stumbles back against the door and Sasori advances, grabbing him and pulling his fist back again to beat the shit out of the bastard-

"Stop it!" Sakura yells.

She runs over and moves right between Sasori and Sasuke, spreading her arms out in a defensive position over Sasuke. "Don't hurt him!"

"Wha- he took you!" Sasori argues, still angry. "He stole you on our wedding day, he took you from me!"

"I know, I know!" Sakura says. She looks at Sasuke, who is standing up and rubbing his reddening jaw. Sasuke looks at Sakura calmly, showing that he's alright. Sakura smiles at Sasuke then looks back at Sasori who is trying to get her out of the way so he can beat the shit out of Sasuke. "I know he did a lot of mean things, but he was just trying to protect me."

"Protect you?" Sasori looks at her, blinking.

"Yes. Sasuke is very special." Sakura smiles softly, putting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "He's my friend."

Sasori looks between the two, still confused. "D-Did you two work something out?"

"Mmmhmm, he explained everything to me." Sakura says happily. "He won't interfere anymore, he wants me to be happy with you."

"Really?" Sasori looks very disbelieving.

Sasuke steps away from Sakura and up to Sasori, looking very calm as always. Sasori frowns but then Sasuke actually lowers his head in a small bow to which Sasori is surprised. "I am sorry for causing trouble for you. Please take care of Sakura."

Sasuke lifts his head then and steps away, letting Sakura and Sasori face each other. Sasori looks at Sakura and she smiles, jumping into his arms again. Sasori's smile returns and he holds her, feeling whole again. Sasuke smirks at this, content.

"What are you kids doing?" Mother says, coming through the doors to the altar. "The wedding is starting! Everyone is waiting! Get in line!"

Quickly, everyone moves to get in line. The bridesmaids match up with the groom's men, Sasori goes ahead to wait at the altar. Hinata pairs up with Deidara and gives him a soft smile, taking his arm and holding her flowers up. Deidara smiles back at her, then quickly presses a kiss to her cheek. Hinata blinks in surprise and turns bright red, but the music starts and the doors open so they start to walk the bridal party in slowly.

As the bridal party moves, Sakura waits for her cue to go last.

She looks back at Sasuke who is waiting in the lobby, not dressed to be at a wedding. Sakura smiles at him, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze. "Thank you, Sasuke. For everything."

Sasuke smirks, nodding his head. "If he leaves you, I will kill him. You know that."

"I know." Sakura's smile widens.

"Get going." Sasuke says, letting her hand go and waving her off. "I'll see you around, Sakura."

She watches Sasuke walk out the door, leaving her but staying with her at the same time. It's nice to know he's watching after her, like her own personal angel.

"Are you ready, love?" Father says, waiting at the door.

Sakura's heart beating quickly, her hands tightening around the bouquet in her hands. She goes to Father and takes his arm, biting her lip and staring at the doors to the altar with excitement. Her life will change forever now.

The doors open. They walk inside.

This is it.

(End)

NOT the last chapter people. There will be more!

One word: Prom.

I fucking hate prom. I don't want to go at all.

Seriously, I've been planning on not going to Prom forever. I don't like school dances; people dance bad, the music always sucks, I have to wear pinchy shoes, dress shopping is less than pleasant and I have to spend hours getting dressed when I know my makeup is going to be ruined by the end of the night, my dress will get dirty and my shoes will hurt my feet. Not to mention how fucking expensive prom is.

So, of course, Ben had to ask me to prom. He's lucky I fucking love him or else I swear I wouldn't be going. I'm already dreading the night.

When I told my friends I was going to prom, seriously their first reaction was to laugh in my face because I have been bitching about how stupid prom is since forever ago. I hate prom, I wish I didn't have to go…stupid boyfriend.


	17. Fat Tip Goodbyes

Two words: **TOM HIDDLESTON.**

Oh my god, I am obsessing over him so hard.

For those of you who don't know, Rom Hiddleston is the actor who plays Loki in the Avengers and in Thor.

He's probably the most perfect human being on this planet. He's smart, clever, adorable beyond belief and super-duper funny. And his laugh, _oh_ his laugh, and his smile and oh my god that British accent. I could watch movies about him reading a phone book and be happy. Seriously, he's perfect. He's super cute, very witty and intelligent and modest and just adorable.

Honestly, I've been stalking all the Avengers this week, Tom the most but the others more than ordinary too. I've decided my favorites in order based on acting and their actual personalities are Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlet Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) and last Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man).

* * *

Thirteen large boxes, five suitcases, ten shipments later and they're still packing.

Good news being all that's left is to pack the art supplies and wrap up some canvases for shipment, then they'll be done.

The apartment looks a whole lot bigger without Sasori's and Sakura's stuff in it. Their bedroom is particularly empty with only the art supplies piled in the middle of the room sitting on the floor, the bed having been sold off just last week. All of the furniture had been sold too, because they're teenagers and need the money if they're going to start a new life in America. A lot of the artwork had been sold as well, only some being decided to keep and others being given away.

"Hmm, what to do with this room." Deidara muses as he walks in with an empty box. "I'm thinking, art studio."

"I can see how torn up you are about us leaving." Sasori teases, taking the box.

"You know I am." Deidara scoffs, looking around with calculating eyes. "Maybe I'll just make this room special for my harem, gotta keep my ladies happy."

"Ladies? Hinata will be surprised to hear about this." Sakura smirks, coming in with a few black canvases. She lays them against the wall.

"Whaaat? Who said anything about ladies? I meant, uh, lady! Just one! Cause, ya know, there's only one lady for me and- and-" Deidara looks at Sakura with big eyes, "Please don't tell her."

They laugh and start putting the various spray cans in the box, lining them in perfectly to fit all the colors. Just shipping all their stuff is expensive as shit, gotta fit as much into one box as they can.

Sakura grabs the tape and closes the box, it's a tight fit but she pushes down and gets the thing shut. As she tapes a straight line over the opening, the light gleams off of her ring finger where a delicate gold band is. Sakura stops and touches the ring fondly, a smile lighting her face. She looks over to Sasori who must've felt her eyes because he looks up to and sees her touching the ring, he smirks and goes to her.

"I love you." He tells her, wrapping her up in his long arms.

"I love you more." She leans up and kisses him. Sasori kisses her back then gives her a cute little escamo kiss with his nose. Sakura giggles and leans into him, feeling his warmth. "I hope America is super awesome."

"It should be." Sasori says, "I mean, you'll be there so it's about to get ten times more awesome."

"But you'll be there too, so it's more like twenty times more awesome."

"Your love is grossing me out." Deidara gives them a sour look. He drops another empty box in the room and gets up, "I'm going to get a soda."

When he leaves, Sakura tries to pull away from Sasori so she can get back to work but he holds her tight. His little wife is just too cute and they've been working too hard and not having enough love-love time. He nuzzles her neck playfully, pressing a hot kiss to her jaw. "You're mine, wife."

"Oh?" Sakura smiles, dropping her arms on his shoulders.

"MmHm," Sasori moves to press an open mouthed kiss on her lips, engaging in some hard making out. His hands press against the small of her back, pulling her into him. Sakura gladly lets him capture her and in turn she pulls him firmly against her too, taking him in.

Sasori is her husband and that means she can kiss him all over the place any time she wants without a care in the world. He loves her and she loves him, they are bound forever to be together. There's no one she'd rather give her heart to than him.

Pressing her against the wall, Sasori kisses her neck.

"You're mine," He repeats onto her skin in hot breaths, giving a new meaning to the word chills.

Sakura's hands tangle in his hair, one leg drawing around his hip. "Right…So don't ever leave me."

"Never." Sasori stops and looks her dead in the eyes. "Not ever."

Then one hand captures her own and entwines their fingers before he returns to her lips, kissing her and letting all his heart seep into her being. Sakura is his, forever and always. No matter what happens, she will be the most precious thing to him, because she's the one who brought him back to life and keeps him living.

"I won't ever leave you," Sasori whispers against her lips, "I swear."

Sakura smiles a genuine smile then kisses her husband, knowing he'll remain true to his words.

* * *

Deidara doesn't actually go get a soda.

Nope. He goes straight to the library. It's Saturday, barely noon and the weather is beautiful – Hinata is totally at the library right now.

Pushing open the doors, Deidara looks around and spots the beauty in the corner with her nose deep in a book. She's sitting with her knees to her chest, looking ever so enchanted by the words the pages feed her. He goes over to her and stands in front of her, but Hinata is so engaged she doesn't even notice him. How she's able to be so captivated by writing amazes him and reminds him of how he feels about art.

"A-Hem." He 'coughs'.

Hinata blinks and looks up, then smiles widely at him. "D-Deidara! When did you get here?"

"Just now." Deidara moves to sit next to her, making sure they're touching. Hinata's cheeks darken at his closeness but she does not move away, in fact she snuggles just a bit closer and looks up at him. "Good book?"

"Mm, it's a romance." She answers softly. Hinata pretty much defines Library voice, and it amuses him because he's so loud. "The girl is frustrating me though, because she won't tell the boy how she feels…"

"Oh? She should just do it. The boy might feel the same way."

"I agree. But she's scared and wants the boy to make the first move…"

"What does the boy think?"

"Well, he's never been with a girl either so he's kinda scared too." Hinata looks at the pages, her hair hiding her face. Deidara watches her for a moment. "The two will not be together though."

"Aw, you don't know that." Deidara reasons.

"I do, I've read this book before. It's my favorite." Hinata says, fiddling the pages. "The two fall in love but never tell each other how they feel, so they get married to other people and live separate lives. Then, in the future they still think of each other and wonder what would've been…the end."

"That's so sad." Deidara says.

Hinata doesn't answer.

Oh, just go for it.

Deidara moves to place a hand on her shoulder, angling her body towards him. Hinata looks at him in question, but sees the severity in his eyes and knows what's about to happen. His hand goes to her cheek and draws her near; he's leaning towards her and pulling her close, capturing her. Hinata's eyes flutter shut and her cheeks color, hands clenching the book to her chest tightly. Deidara's eyes close too at some point, but he remembers seeing her beautiful face and the feeling in his heart gets stronger.

Then, he kisses her.

There must be something about putting off first kisses that makes the actual first kiss feel so much more amazing, because even though Deidara's almost kissed Hinata like ten times but now it's actually happening and nothing could be sweeter than the feeling of her lips against his.

When they draw back, he looks into her eyes for some kinda of reaction.

Those pure orbs are so elated and pure; it's like looking into heaven. "Y-Y-You're…my first kiss…"

"You're my first too." Deidara whispers gently, reaching to take her hand. His heart beats loud in his ears. "I want you to be my first everything."

She looks up at him quickly with wide eyes, shocked.

"My first kiss. My first touch. My first girl." Deidara says genuinely, holding her gaze. "My first love."

"W-What?!" Hinata gasps.

"I want you," Now he holds both her hands, "To be my first love."

Looking so happy she might cry, and unable to hold back anymore, Hinata throws her arms around his shoulders and presses another kiss to his lips. Deidara laughs in his throat and kisses her back, drawing his arms around her back and holding her tightly, feeling her heart beating just as loud as his as he presses against her.

And for this moment, everything is perfect. He can't be happier, and neither can she. For once, something seems more important than art to him; love.

* * *

"To Sakura and Sasori!" Hidan holds up his class, "Jashin save America, you two fuckers are gonna own that country!"

Everyone holds up their glasses and cheers then tip back their glasses and drink. They're all at the Chinese restaurant Hidan works out in Chinatown. The place has closed down for the night but Hidan snuck the keys from his boss so they could have a fit going away party for Sakura and Sasori, who are going to America tomorrow. It's late but they're all night people and happily drink the night away in the honor of their friends.

"Seriously though, if you need me to fly over and beat up some fucking Yankees for you don't think I won't!" Hidan laughs, patting Sasori on the back.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sasori smirks, drinking some more.

He looks over at Sakura who's looking particularly beautiful tonight, happily buzzing around with their friends. For a moment he wants her again, but tonight is about goodbyes and he'll let her have her time with the group, because he knows how sad she is to be leaving tomorrow.

"I'll call every day." Hinata says solemly, holding Sakura's hand. "Don't f-forget about me."

"I could never." Sakura laughs. She looks at Deidara, "Besides, I think you'll be so busy you'll hardly remember me."

"Shut up, you know we love you." Deidara teases, putting an arm around Hinata's shoulder. She leans back in her chair and into him, smiling softly. Sakura is super glad these two finally got their hormones in check, if she left to America and they weren't dating fucking hell…

"We'll visit you soon." Hinata says. "Just before school starts, we've already planned a trip."

"I can hardly wait." Sakura says, "Hopefully I'll be able to speak English by then."

"English isn't too hard." Deidara shrugs, but of course his mom is American so he already knows the language. "Just act all confident and badass, that's the real American language."

"America is so big." Hinata says, "And there are s-so many people there…"

"It sounds exciting!" Deidara grins.

"It sounds s-scary…" Hinata mumbles.

"You two, I swear, if there was ever a more opposites couple." Sakura rolls her eyes.

"But opposites attract right?!" Deidara laughs, giving Hinata's shoulder a squeeze.

Hinata blushes and turns to kiss his cheek, which make Deidara blush too and now he's cooing sweetly into her ear. Sakura takes this as her cue to leave and gets up from the table. As she does someone new pulls her into a hug and squeezes her tightly. It's Konan, who looks just as calm as always, with Pein behind her looking even more calm. They're like robots.

"I'll miss you. A lot." Konan says. The emotion sounds weird combined with her deadpan face.

"I'll call, and write." Sakura says, pulling back from Konan's hug. "And I'm already following your blog; we'll talk all the time."

"It's not the same." Konan says with a robotic sigh. "Hanging around all these guys gets annoying, men are troublesome."

"I'm right here." Pein says, half-interested.

"What will I do without a girl around?" Konan ignores him.

"Hinata is here." Sakura says, noting how Konan and Hinata had become friends over her wedding. "And besides, Hidan is pretty much a girl already so-"

"Excuse fucking me?!" Hidan shouts across the room, ears pointing up. He comes over and glares at the ladies.

"True. He is pretty feminine." Konan says in thought.

"WHAT?!" Hidan frowns.

"You paint your nails." Sakura says, giving him a look.

"And have a private hair dresser."

"You wear jewelry."

"You love the Titanic."

"FUCK YOU! I'm gorgeous!" Hidan yells in his defense. "And the Titanic is fucking manly! Leonardo Dicaprio is an example for all men, so shut it hoes!"

Sakura laughs and wraps her arms around him tightly. Hidan pauses then hugs her back, grinning. The two of them are actually pretty close, having a Protective-Older-Brother/Younger-Sister relationship. In actuality, Hidan is super worried Sakura is going to get in trouble in America without him. The police there are very strict and not very friendly, and without him there to help her make getaways he's beyond concerned. But Sasori will be there and Hidan will just have to trust the redhead to take care of their princess, or else he'll come back and get a beating from Hidan first hand.

"Be safe, kid." Hidan smiles when he pulls back. "And remember, always know your exit."

"Always." Sakura nods.

Hidan and Konan start bickering about how Hidan is such a woman and it's the funniest fight ever because Hidan is throwing his arms around and getting in her face and screaming at her but Konan just crosses her arms and looks straight at him with no emotion. Sakura starts laughing at them but feels someone poking at her shoulder, looking up to see Pein.

"Be good." Pein says simply.

Sakura's eyes widen and she tears up, lower lip trembling. "Y-Yes master!"

Pein nods, giving her a pat on the shoulder then going to tend to Konan.

"What was that about?" Sasuke asks, coming over.

"That," Sakura looks at him with her big eyes, "was beauty my friend, beauty."

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes. The two of them look at everyone else. The group is loud and animated, just like you'd picture a room full of artists being. Being the only non-artist there, Sasuke looks completely out of place and so far Hidan's picked five fights with him so now he's taken to staying in the background. His cool eyes look at her. "Write me, often."

"I promise." Sakura agrees. "But you better write back more than 'Hn' or 'Whatever' or any of your other snarky short retorts."

Sasuke smirks. "You know me so well."

"I know. I practically own you." Sakura smirks back. Then she touches his arm affectionately, softly smiling at him. "And you better have a lucky lady when I come back, and maybe some kids. And you better know how to smile by then."

"I smile."

"I meant in public."

"Oh." Sasuke nods. "I'll work on it."

Sakura laughs and wonders how she never realized Sasuke could be a good friend. He likes her well enough and cares about her and wants her to be happy and he acts calm and casual around her, not stuck up and angry like he does with other people. In turn, Sakura can relax around him because she knows Sasuke cares about her and wants to take care of her. She's not scared of him anymore, it's the opposite; she feels very safe with him.

"There you are," Sasori catches Sakura's hand as she's leaving the bathroom later that night. He pulls her against his chest, rubbing her nose. "Where have you been all night?"

"Here and there." She smiles, pecking his lips.

"Ready to go home?"

Sakura thinks. "Yeah, I'm almost drunk. Let's leave before I get totally tipsy and start ugly crying on you again."

"It was cute." Sasori says honestly.

Before they leave everyone gives them a bunch of hugs and kisses, and everything feels real. Tomorrow, they won't see these people for a long, long time and parting is such sweet sorrow. There's no turning back though, a new life is waiting just around the corner.

Walking the two blocks to the subway, they get in and Sakura leans against Sasori in the back of the train, feeling his warmth. Sasori holds her hand and kisses the top of her head, already planning on giving her aspirin and water when they get home. The subway shakes and rattles, but Sakura no longer falls over like she would when they first met. The subways are her bitches now.

Sleepily, Sakura looks to the left and her eyes catch a familiar area on the back of the train wall.

"Sasori, look!" She points.

He does, seeing the wall of messy tags and writings in fat sharpies. For a moment he doesn't understand but then he sees it and his eyes widen.

There, in fat marker writings are their tags. Sakura with a flower and Puppet Master, right beside each other. This is the train they first rode together from that night when they first met, when they first fell in love. Sasori looks at Sakura and she's smiling so brightly, he smiles back. "Here's where I first fell in love with you."

"This is very serendipitous." Sakura notes. Then she gets an idea. "Do you have a marker?"

Sasori produces a fat tip from his pocket and she takes it, going over to the wall. Right below her perfectly scripted name and cute flower and Sasori's rough writing, she writes something new.

_America or Bust. _

Looking back for approval, Sakura beams. Sasori smirks back. "Or bust? Please, we'll own that country."

"America won't know what hit it." Sakura agrees, going back into his arms.

They hold each other and feel the city around them, their city. This is where Sakura first fell in love with Sasori and first fell in love with art. If she hadn't run into him that nice that feels ages ago, where would she be? Still crying her eyes out? Still hating Mother? Still alone? Fate has brought her to Sasori and fate has kept them together.

"No matter where we go, America or whatever, as long as I'm with you I'm happy." Sakura says to him.

"Sometimes, you take the words out of my mouth." Sasori says, kissing her nose.

* * *

THE END

I have to say thank you for being with me this far for a story that is very precious to me.

Street art makes me feel alive, like I'm not wasting away. When I do it, it's not a question of how illegal this is or what people will say; it's just the heart pounding and blood burning and seeing my art and knowing that other people will see it and feel something, feel anything. Art is probably the most important thing to me.

Art opens doors, whether they be opportunity doors or emotional doors or just doors to living. I can never be sad knowing what my hands can create, what my mind can see and what is just me.

I love you all and I hope you will read my other stories and continue to help me with this writing process until the day I can be a true writer and inspire others to write as well. Thank you, everyone.


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